'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Cast Talk Expanding Tolkien's World

For the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, they couldn't have had better leaders than showrunners J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay when it came to returning to the world of Middle Earth that J. R. R. Tolkien created.

Tolkien's work is beloved around the world, and so it was quite the undertaking to create a show that would both honor the author's writing and also bring something new to the table.

However, the cast told Newsweek that the showrunners were more than up to the task.

'Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' Cast on Expanding Tolkien's World

The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age of Middle Earth, thousands of years before The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings, and is a period that Tolkien did not write about as extensively as the First and Third Ages.

This meant that there was room for Payne and McKay to add to Tolkien's world by introducing new characters and expanding upon the blueprint set out by the fantasy author decades ago.

Morfydd Clark, who portrays Galadriel, said: "It's been really interesting to have the merging of the canon characters with the new characters they've created.

"But the thing that's wonderful about Tolkien is that his world is so defined and so rich, and he wrote so much, that every kind of new character is written from pages and pages and thousands of words of what this world is. J. D. and Patrick are, and have been for many years, deeply obsessed with Tolkien."

Maxim Baldry, who plays Isildur, added: "They have an encyclopaedic knowledge, they're the two best people for the job."

Sara Zwangobani, who portrays Harfoot Marigold Brandyfoot, concurred with her co-stars as she said of the showrunners: "I think that J. D. and Patrick are as passionate as any fan about Tolkien, and they have really considered long and hard the decisions that they've made about the show, and immersed themselves so completely in his works that I think that they are doing a wonderful honor to Tolkien and to his world."

Treating Tolkien's Middle Earth With 'Respect'

Elrond star Robert Aramayo shared his hope that viewers who may feel some trepidation towards returning to Middle Earth onscreen will give the show a chance.

"I just hope people really enjoy what we get to make, because I'm a huge fan," Aramayo said. "So I know, especially in this Age, that there's things that we know and things that we don't know and I think it's really fun that people have theories and talk about like how people must have felt about things, and whether this happened and [how we] got a character there, you know?

"This is our take on, especially in terms of the Legendarium, those events, and I hope people really enjoy those choices that we've made because they are fun to make, that's why we all love to do it."

Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who is Queen Regent Míriel, added to Aramayo's sentiment by saying: "I understand people's sense of protection around things that they really love, and we're the same, we have really treated this material with the utmost care and respect and there's a lot of thought and a lot of heart that's gone into the making of this.

"So I understand people's trepidation and things that they don't know the end result of, but when we got to watch it as a cast together, even though we were there and we made it, I still was struck by just how moving and beautiful and exciting the show feels.

"And I just know that audiences are going to be in for something very special when they do finally get to watch."

Lloyd Owen, who plays Elendil, has been a fan of the Tolkien's books since he was a child, and the actor said he understood that their interpretation may not necessarily live up to readers' expectations.

"It's fascinating for me because I first read The Hobbit when I was like 11, so that's been in my imagination [and] I've got my own visual world I created through reading. I think that's the same with with The Lord of the Rings books," he said.

"So, to a certain extent, any interpretation can never match up to anyone's imagination when they read, but there have been quite a few fans who have seen bits of them when we were at [San Diego] Comic Con and I spoke to one who actually cried when she first saw Númenor, even though she'd read about it and it had been something that she'd grown up with because her parents were big fans.

"So for her to see it visually realized it was actually a very moving experience, which I thought was a wonderful sign that actually you can either match or enhance people's imagination. So hopefully that'll be the case for this."

On the Harfoots

One major addition that Payne and McKay have made is by including Harfoots, who are the ancestors of Hobbits like Frodo and Bilbo Baggins. The Hobbits are beings that Tolkien created, and he didn't elaborate much on their origins other than the fact that their ancestors would migrate often to keep their location a secret.

This is something that the showrunners have taken and run with, with characters like Elanor "Nori" Brandyfoot, played by Markella Kavenagh, playing a key role in the story.

Kavenagh said of her character: "I really hope that audiences can relate to [her], I think, in general, the Harfoots have this innate curiosity and vulnerability and they're not afraid of it, they don't shy away from it and they see it as a strength because they're survivors, and they're often quite vulnerable in the world as they migrate to the seasons.

"So I hope that audiences will be able to relate to balancing an innate curiosity with the real serious responsibility that they carry to protect each other, and I really feel grateful to be a part of that."

Zwangobani said of expanding upon the history of Hobbits: "I found it very exciting to explore that because their origins are shrouded in mystery, and so to discover what Patrick and J. D. have written for these ancestors of the Hobbits has been as joyous for me as I hope it will be for the audience that are going to see the see the show.

"[It was] incredible fun just exploring this idea of these peoples that live so close to the Earth, that is so in touch with nature, that follow the seasons, that have the all the joy and music, and laughter of the later Hobbits but also have a world-weariness and a depth of history to them. That is quite weighted, and I think that that has been a really enjoyable experience to explore that."

Megan Richards portrays Nori's friend Poppy Proudfellow, and she said of Payne and McKay's work: "The showrunners are such incredible writers and creators and developers, and they really did do such broad worldbuilding and character-building.

"So what was already on the page there was just fleshed out already, so it was really exciting as an actor to be able to come in and just look at everything that was already there and then really build the characters from the ground up. It was such a collaborative experience, and it's really exciting that the world is going to finally see them soon."

The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is out on Prime Video now, and episodes will air weekly thereafter.