The Rings of Power cast and creatives shone as they descended on London on Tuesday for the Lord of the Rings prequel show’s premiere.
The new TV series for Amazon Prime Video – reported to be the most expensive ever produced, with a rumoured price tag of $1billion (£858million) across five planned seasons – is set thousands of years before the events of the Lord of the Rings, but a few recognisable characters are set to pop up again.
His Dark Materials’ Morfydd Clark and Game of Thrones’ Robert Amarayo star as elves Galadriel and Elrond, previously portrayed by Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving in Peter Jackson’s popular trilogy, and are joined in the cast by the likes of Sir Lenny Henry, Benjamin Walker, Nazanin Boniadi, Owain Arthur and A Discovery of Witches’ Trystan Gravelle.
Morfydd stunned in a gleaming silver corseted gown with a sweeping cut across neckline, while Nazanin opted for a feathered and embellished green mini-dress which she paired with a jewelled grill headpiece that covered her face.
Benjamin, 40, who was in a double-breasted grey and white pinstripe suit, attended alongside his Skins and Pirates of the Caribbean actress wife, 30-year-old Kaya Scodelario.
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos also rubbed shoulders with the stars, accompanied to the premiere by this news anchor girlfriend Lauren Sanchez in red.
Sir Lenny, who looked dapper in black tie and silver trainers, reflected on his role in the upcoming series, saying: ‘I was always aiming at something like this.’
The 64-year-old comedian and actor, best known for his lively, humorous roles, stars as Sadoc Burrows in the new series inspired by author JRR Tolkien’s extended notes.
Reflecting on his transition from solo comedian to seasoned actor, Sir Lenny told the PA news agency: ‘I’d been doing comedy since I was 16 years old, and then I did Othello and then The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre… I wanted to work with great scripts.
‘You know, I think when you do Shakespeare you kind of go, you want to do good things.
‘So that was my goal, to be in things, where I could be in a good thing with other people that were good.
‘To me, the change happened in the last 10 to 15 years, and I was always aiming at something like this.’
Speaking ahead of the highly anticipated show’s airing, which launches on Amazon Prime on September 2, Sir Lenny shared his love for forming ‘little families’ with each project he is a part of.
‘I think the change from being a solo comedian to being an actor with groups of people and forming these little families continually, made me realise that I wanted to be connected with other people, with other actors,’ he explained.
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The series, which sees an almost unrecognisable Sir Lenny as a Harfoot – a Hobbit predecessor – follows the events of the Second Age and the forging of the famous rings.
Sir Lenny’s co-star and the series’ standout star Morfydd Clark, who debuts as Galadriel, shared how she took inspiration from Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of the powerful royal elf in Peter Jackson’s movies.
‘I just used that performance, by one of the greatest actresses in the world, as a guide that that’s where [Galadriel] was going,’ the 33-year-old revealed.
‘And that was quite comforting, and interesting, because she has thousands of years to go before she gets there… and gets a very special ring, and so things are going to change.
‘So it’s nice knowing that, in the end, she’s going to be okay,’ she added.
Robert Aramayo admitted he initially found the prospect of starring in the series ‘scary’, before settling into his role as Elrond.
‘Elrond is an intimidating character, and Tolkien is an intimidating universe, and so it’s scary,’ he said.
‘I guess that’s always the first step, to be like, here we go.’
Despite admitting he felt pressure because of the level of The Lord Of The Rings fandom that already exists, 29-year-old Robert added: ‘What matters, what’s important, is the work and that’s what you focus on.’
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power begins on Amazon Prime on September 2, with new episodes available weekly.
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