'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' showrunners JD Payne and Patrick Mckay and stars Maxim Baldry, Tyroe Muhafidin, Ema Horvath, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lloyd Owen, Trystan Gravelle, Charles Edwards, Sam Hazeldine, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards and Benjamin Walker sit down with THR at San Diego Comic-Con. The cast & crew reveal how season 2 is bigger and better than season 1, connecting with fans in a new way and more.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00I saw a great invisible man, amazing, I couldn't even see him, he walked right past me.
00:11Hi, I'm Patrick McKay, I'm one of the showrunners of Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime.
00:16We're here with some of our awesome, talented, amazing cast members with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:21Hi, I'm Benjamin Walker, I'm here with some of my friends and fellow cast members from Rings of Power on Amazon.
00:27This is J.D. Payne, our inimitable leader and half of our showrunner team.
00:32And we're here for Hollywood Reporter at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con.
00:38What was it like standing up there in Hall H yesterday in front of a huge crowd of Rings of Power fans?
00:45Crazy.
00:46A lot more relaxed this time. I don't know about everyone else.
00:50Very surreal.
00:51It's really nice to be in that room. It's just like a massive wall of love and it just feels like a massive embrace.
00:58It was just really lovely to return.
01:00What's crazy is you can't even really see the back of you. You come onto the stage and there's these lights in your face
01:05and you're sort of doing this a little bit and you realise the hall just keeps going back and back and back and back.
01:10And then with all of the massive crowd energy that's coming at you, it's really overwhelming.
01:16How many people are in there?
01:176,500 is what I've heard.
01:20The other thing to remember is that it's the first time any of us have seen what everybody saw yesterday, the trailer.
01:25We hadn't seen it.
01:26So we are just as excited as the audience who are watching it for the first time.
01:30And to see all our work up there, you feel very proud having watched it.
01:36I had seen it once or twice, but yeah.
01:38Ad nauseum.
01:41Doing press is important and a lot of fun, but just getting to be with the fans in that capacity
01:49and people that love Tolkien as much as you love Tolkien, it's humbling and it's beautiful.
01:55And I think we were here obviously last time, which is wonderful, but the show hadn't come out at that point.
02:02So to see the fans with us having seen the show, so now they know us.
02:08They came back and they came back in full force with more love, more support, and we are just so grateful.
02:14It was really, really wonderful to come back.
02:16Such a difference with just as much love and support.
02:20We did it a couple of years ago.
02:21It was the first time no one had seen the show.
02:23So it was a very different experience and beautiful this time because everyone had seen it.
02:27So you could feel their reaction to what they'd seen the first season, how excited they were to be there
02:31and to meet us and do all that.
02:33So it was a different vibe.
02:35It was special.
02:36Celebrating with people that just love the show is just a wonderful feeling.
02:40And I think that's what San Diego is all about.
02:43The Comic-Con is just about celebrating these wonderful shows.
02:46For each of you, what's been the highlight of your Comic-Con experience this weekend?
02:50Cosplay.
02:51Seeing Disa.
02:53Me.
02:54Aw, lovely.
02:55I did.
02:56I saw a husband and wife as Durden and Disa, and that was very, very special.
03:00Oh, that's so nice.
03:02I'd like to talk.
03:03It was a highlight.
03:04Not necessarily a positive one.
03:07Where is this going?
03:09In the signing yesterday, there was a Lego man dressed as a Lego character.
03:15And, you know, you greet, say, Hi, how are you doing?
03:18How far have you traveled?
03:19I said, Hi, how are you doing?
03:20Nothing.
03:21And the head was slightly at an angle and just staring at me like that.
03:24I said, Are you hot in there?
03:25Nothing.
03:27And then Miv went to shake his hand, his Lego hand.
03:31And his real hand came out from behind the Lego hand and shook her hand.
03:35And then he kind of walked off into the darkness.
03:37It was rather alarming.
03:39What's wrong with you?
03:42I think he was a dwarf.
03:44Do you know what he was dressed as?
03:45Was it a dwarf Lego man?
03:46It was Lego.
03:47Legoless.
03:48It was Legoless.
03:49Legoless.
03:50Oh, well played.
03:52Well played.
03:53The man is brilliant.
03:54What he was doing was brilliant, and you missed it.
03:56It was very postmodern.
03:57Legoless made of Legos.
04:00So was he Legoless or Legolas?
04:02That's a question.
04:04Anyways, I think a small moment.
04:08There was a couple at the fan signing yesterday.
04:11One of them was dressed as one of our Harfoots, and the other one was dressed as the Stranger.
04:15And the young woman who had done the Harfoot had put so much detail into her Harfoot crown,
04:20and it looked like it could have come straight out of one of our costume departments.
04:24And it was truly amazing to see how much love the fans have put into replicating the experience of being Middle Earth.
04:29That was one.
04:30And then randomly on the street as I was walking, I saw a mother and daughter dressed alike.
04:33They weren't even dressed like someone from our show, but they were both in costume.
04:37And the daughter was probably like three years old, and it was the sweetest thing in the world.
04:40Aww.
04:41Yeah, and I saw a WALL-E robot this morning whose eyes went up every time he looked at anyone, which was really nice.
04:48That's all I got to offer.
04:51So I shared a lift with Anthony Starr, Homelander, from The Boys.
04:55So I got to sort of geek out, totally lost my composure.
04:59What did you say to him?
05:00Wouldn't let go of his hand, and just said as he was running out of the lift as well,
05:04I'm an actor too, I'm with Rings of Power!
05:06So yeah, but that was a highlight for me, meeting him.
05:10I ran into Tristan in the steam room.
05:15There were two women who had handmade my costumes from the show.
05:21That has been the highlight for me.
05:24Yes, similarly, there was a girl who came with a whole Elendil sea captain outfit.
05:30She'd done the gold sign on the front, she gave me a bracelet saying Elendil.
05:34But it was just fabulous to see the amount of work that had gone into that.
05:37Her joy, the fact that she got to meet the person whose costumes she'd made,
05:41and my joy at seeing the fact that there was someone who'd done the same for this.
05:45Because you live in your bubble, you make a show,
05:48it happens in a little space in New Zealand,
05:51and the next thing you know, that happens.
05:53Someone actually creates a costume on that basis.
05:55It was mind-blowing.
05:56You got to give fans a preview of Season 2 yesterday.
05:59How is Season 2 bigger and better than Season 1?
06:04Season 2 is bigger and better than Season 1.
06:07Season 1 is all about setting up the chessboard.
06:09It's all about the heroes.
06:10It's about bringing audiences back to Middle Earth.
06:12Season 2, we get to play.
06:14This is a season about villains.
06:16This is a season about Sauron,
06:18and it's the story of the forging of the Rings of Power from our title.
06:22It's a really exciting season.
06:24It goes to dark places, there's a lot of monsters,
06:26there's battles, romance, craziness, death, love.
06:32Yeah, it's all of it.
06:33We do so much world-building in the first season,
06:37and we have so much terrain to cover in the Second Age.
06:41We really hit the ground running.
06:42Right out of the gate in the first episode.
06:46Stuff happens very quickly.
06:48I don't want to ruin anything.
06:50I think it goes both deeper and broader this season.
06:52There you go.
06:53I think you'll see Charlie and Charlie going into a poor Caliburn,
06:58where he goes on this descent into madness
07:00over the course of these eight episodes.
07:03It's harrowing to watch.
07:05But also, Season 1, we had some big battles,
07:08but they were on the scope of a village.
07:10And there was a certain volcano that exploded, so that's pretty big.
07:12But this season, we have an entire city that is laid siege to,
07:16and it takes a full three episodes to have that battle play out.
07:20So it, again, goes both deeper and broader.
07:24I think, yeah, the stakes are incredibly high.
07:26We're in a life-and-death situation.
07:28Evil is really looming.
07:29And so these characters that we've built in Season 1,
07:32that we know and that we love so much,
07:34are under a treacherous amount of strain.
07:38And I think what's really brilliant is just seeing the trailer alone.
07:42As Charles said, we're watching this in real time with you guys.
07:46The accessibility and the excitement for fans outside that I've heard of,
07:49friends at home who haven't necessarily had a history with Tolkien or anything,
07:53are just so excited.
07:55So whichever genre you're coming from,
07:59it's thrilled with a whole heap of excitement and darkness and thrill.
08:04How does realizing the truth about Sauron change Galadriel in Season 2?
08:08Galadriel, Season 1, is convinced she's right.
08:10And she's not. She was wrong.
08:12And so, actually, the challenge for her, Season 2,
08:14is having to kind of look inward and take stock
08:18and hopefully grow past a little of her flaws
08:22that have unwittingly empowered the Dark Lord.
08:25This is someone who's been so confident and so certain of herself
08:28for so many years.
08:30And really, at the end of Season 1, she realizes she's messed up.
08:33She has empowered the Dark Lord and brought him back
08:36in spectacular fashion.
08:38And she's not only done that, but she's also alienated
08:40some of her closest friends and colleagues in doing so,
08:43both Elrond and Galad.
08:45And she's going to have to make up for that.
08:47And so it's really a journey of redemption,
08:49as someone who's been so sure, has to humble herself
08:51and seek to repair those relationships and to find her way again.
08:55Charles?
08:56Yes?
08:57What can you say about how your role is expanded this season?
09:01Well, I always knew, when I first spoke to J.D. and Patrick,
09:05they said, you kind of dip your toe in in Season 1,
09:07and then Season 2, things kick off.
09:09And they, yes, that's exactly what has happened.
09:12It's expanded because we spend a lot more time with him.
09:15And Sauron is with him in the Forge.
09:18And essentially, our storyline is pretty much just the two of us.
09:24It sounds like a good single.
09:25You could go, just the two of us, just the two of us.
09:29We have got that planned.
09:31You've just nicked my idea.
09:32I had it all planned.
09:33We're going to do it tonight at the party.
09:34I'm so sorry, I ripped it off.
09:35Please, go ahead, go ahead.
09:36I mean, if you're going to steal, steal from the best.
09:39I have to cancel it now, J.D.
09:42I'm going to pick up my outfit in a minute.
09:45So, yes, it becomes a battle of all kinds,
09:49very sort of devious mental battle, mental trickery.
09:53Some of it, as J.D. said, quite challenging to see.
09:59But they both need each other.
10:01Sauron needs Celebrimbor and vice versa.
10:04And it's often a power battle.
10:06It becomes, Sauron becomes much more in control later.
10:10But initially, they both need each other.
10:12So, Celebrimbor has stuff that Sauron wants,
10:14and he chooses to withhold sometimes.
10:16And Sauron just has to wait.
10:19But then it descends into a darker place
10:23later on in the series.
10:25Lord of the Rings World has produced
10:27such an expansive set of works.
10:28How do you hope season two of this show
10:30connects with and Oz fans in a new way?
10:33The amount of action in this season is,
10:36you just get gripped instantly.
10:38And in my character's case,
10:40Isildur is just constantly in the mud.
10:42Thank you for that, Patrick, by the way.
10:44I am very grateful for that.
10:45But I get to just do so much action,
10:47which I've found so fun and liberating as an actor.
10:51And just the physicality of Isildur
10:53is just represented in his desperation.
10:56He's just constantly thrown around.
10:58And I think that's just what's going to engage the fans
11:00and keep them hooked.
11:02I think also because it's set
11:05thousands of years before the Third Age,
11:07that you get this great privilege for us all.
11:11And I think that's what Patrick and JD have done so well,
11:14is that there's a certain amount of information
11:17that Tolkien has given us,
11:18but there's so much he hasn't filled in.
11:20And that's the great joy to read these scripts
11:22when they come in and think,
11:23oh gosh, all right, so that,
11:25that sort of half an idea that Tolkien
11:27might have left behind for Elendil
11:28has been expanded into this particular character,
11:31this set of circumstances,
11:32in my case, with his daughter Eärin,
11:35with a dead son Isildur,
11:36that's just grown and given it so much more at stake.
11:39That's the thing about season two.
11:40In every single world, there's so much more at stake.
11:43And so the drama ratchets up, up and up and up.
11:46And for the actors,
11:47it's wonderful to be able to get into really juicy moments.
11:50Well, I think it's the scale of the show.
11:52I mean, the scale of season one was absolutely huge,
11:54but this time there's like a,
11:56I'm allowed to say, aren't I?
11:57Three, like a pretty much three episode battle,
12:00which is kind of,
12:02it's not just one thing that goes through three episodes.
12:05It's nuanced and has peaks and troughs
12:08and all different kind of, there's many sides.
12:12So there's huge amounts of physical and mental battle
12:17going on throughout the series, basically.
12:20It kind of erupts into this battle towards the end.
12:26And it's a lot of sort of unlikely alliances
12:29forged between usually warring factions
12:33that have to come together
12:35to do something about this sort of,
12:37the existential threat that Sauron presents.
12:43I think that's great.
12:44And I'll also say there's, you know,
12:46so many new and exciting creatures
12:48that are coming in this season.
12:49You know, we're doing, there's Barrow-whites,
12:51there's Ent-wives,
12:53there are bats in Khazad-dum
12:56that a certain wonderful dwarf singer might sing to
12:59or sing to her aid, perhaps.
13:03And what else?
13:04We have, like, Mud-creature
13:06and Sauron, Black Goo-creature.
13:11You know, spiders.
13:13You know, there's a whole interpretive dance we could do
13:15to introduce the various creatures of Middle-earth.
13:19Patrick and I had it all practiced
13:21and ready for Comic-Con yesterday,
13:22but, you know, it just didn't come up, so.
13:24Also, there's rings.
13:26Yes, this is true.
13:27This is true.
13:28But there's also,
13:29just speaking from my character's perspective as well,
13:31I'm sort of not quite separated from a lot of this.
13:34There's still also a lot of heart as well
13:36that drives through.
13:37And I think that it's important to
13:40have the light among the darkness
13:42that's trying and fighting to get through.
13:46And, yeah, it's hard,
13:48but it is also still there.
13:51Patrick, how do you approach the responsibility
13:53of bringing such a revered story to life
13:55while also still applying your own
13:57personal imagination to it?
13:59With a lot of fear and trembling.
14:02With a lot of reverence and, you know,
14:06hold it like a very fragile egg every day.
14:09It is something we are constantly working on,
14:11is going back to the books
14:13and trying to create in as Tolkienian a way as possible.
14:17You know, we're always reading,
14:19and we would often start our days in season two
14:21in the writer's room with a quote from Tolkien
14:23that would sort of get us in harmony a little bit
14:25with the spirit that inspired Tolkien.
14:31We would seek to also inspire us.
14:33And, you know, obviously just as you're writing...
14:37Okay, I'll put it this way.
14:39I used to study jazz trumpet,
14:41and when I was learning jazz trumpet,
14:43my teacher said to me,
14:44look, you've got to just constantly listen to the best.
14:46Listen to Miles Davis, listen to Dizzy Gillespie.
14:49And then practice your fundamentals.
14:51And then when you're up there and the spotlight's on you
14:53and it's your turn to solo,
14:55that all comes out and sort of recombines through you
14:57in this unique and special way.
14:59And with Tolkien, it's the same thing.
15:00We're sort of constantly immersing ourselves in Tolkien.
15:02But then when we go to the page,
15:04and I think when all of us go to create something together,
15:06obviously the unique qualities
15:08in our own lived experiences will combine
15:11with that sort of Tolkienian core
15:13and hopefully create something that feels a piece with it,
15:15but that is also new and special.
15:18That's so lovely. That's so peaceful.
15:20And also, I would love to speak on music
15:23and the fact that JD and Patrick,
15:26just off the back of what you've just said,
15:28give so much licence to collaborate
15:30and make this our own as well.
15:32I think that's what's so wonderful about our show
15:34is that they are ultimately,
15:35with the heart and spirit of Tolkien
15:37and the amazing creative team,
15:41we are given so much licence to embody that as ourselves
15:45and as creators as well.
15:46And so everything just feels like it fits just right.
15:49And in terms of also bringing in new things,
15:53Tolkien was so wonderful with music.
15:55And again, we have the amazing, amazing,
15:57untouchable Bear McCreary,
15:59who looks after all of our musical needs,
16:02particularly, yeah, Disa has.
16:04And JD and Patrick are great at just go, sing, do things.
16:08And a song from Gil Galaad this season, casually.
16:13So yeah, yeah.
16:15And in some ways, this group is actually a perfect embodiment
16:17of the very question that you were asking,
16:18because in some ways,
16:19this group is an embodiment of the question you're asking,
16:21because we have two canon characters here,
16:22with Gil Galaad and Celebrimbor.
16:24But then also between Adar, Disa, and Poppy,
16:26hopefully now people won't be able to imagine Middle-earth
16:29without having met the father of the orcs
16:32or a wonderful dwarven resonator princess and future queen
16:36or a Harfoot who has gone on this long,
16:40soul-searching adventure with a stranger.
16:41They will hopefully become woven into the fabric
16:43of what people think about
16:44when they think about Middle-earth.
16:45Since season one was released,
16:47have you heard from any of the cast members
16:49of the original trilogy or Peter Jackson?
16:52Ismail actually went to a party once
16:54and met Orlando Bloom,
16:56who took a selfie with him
16:58and then just sort of blessed his,
17:00he passed the torch over to Ismail in a way.
17:02And it was, I think that's a great sort of connecting
17:05of the films and our world,
17:08which is, they're both very different,
17:09but exist in the world of Tolkien.
17:11I think there was a moment in which
17:12some of the original cast members on social media
17:14gave a really nice shout out.
17:16Our cast experienced a lot of backlash
17:19during season one, especially.
17:21And there were some lovely moments
17:23where some of the hobbits from the original films
17:25had some shirts that they made
17:26that sort of said like,
17:27what was the exact, was it Middle-earth?
17:30It was for everyone.
17:32Yes, and that's what it is, yeah.
17:33Yeah, and that we found very-
17:35Elven, different colored elven ears.
17:39So it's like a rainbow of human color of elven ears,
17:44which was beautiful.
17:45That's about the most wonderful interaction,
17:47I think, that I've had the support.
17:50And they were made by Don Marshall,
17:51who's an incredible fan and supporter of our show.
17:55Yeah.
17:56What are your thoughts on the plans
17:57for the new Lord of the Rings movies?
17:59We're obviously big fans of anything
18:01happening in Middle-earth,
18:02and we'll be in the audience.
18:03I can't wait to watch them.
18:05And the dense nature of Tolkien's imagination
18:11has space for everybody.
18:12There's enough room at the Tolkienian table
18:15Since we are at Comic-Con,
18:16I'm going to have you do some rapid-fire bucket questions.
18:19I'm going to pass this over to you,
18:20and you can each grab one,
18:21and everybody can answer it.
18:23Who is the most iconic voice
18:25in the animated series that comes to mind?
18:29Boom!
18:31George Sanders.
18:32Yeah, that's the one.
18:33Shere Khan, that's good.
18:35Robin Williams.
18:36Aladdin.
18:38Spongebob.
18:40Who plays Mufasa in The Lion King?
18:43James Earl Jones.
18:44James Earl Jones.
18:45That's a beautiful voice, right?
18:49If you could cosplay as one character,
18:51who would it be?
18:53From our show, I think the Stranger.
18:56No one would talk to you.
19:00Because you'd be so quiet.
19:01That sums up your Comic-Con experience.
19:04No, no, no, it's not that.
19:05You just wouldn't, you know,
19:06you'd be like silent.
19:08Mandalorian.
19:10You would be Mandalorian?
19:11Yep.
19:13That's for you, is it?
19:14Yep.
19:15But then, Ben, you would hide your beautiful face.
19:17Great.
19:21But I'd be the Mandalorian.
19:23Yeah, yeah.
19:25I have Pedro Pascal on line one.
19:27I think I'd like to be Han Solo.
19:31In a lot of ways, you are.
19:33Thank you for saying so.
19:34I appreciate that.
19:35I'm a Mad Max fan.
19:36I saw a pretty good Lord Humongous today.
19:38If I had the muscles for it,
19:39I'd go for that.
19:41Morton Jo for going Mad Max.
19:43That's what I'd go for.
19:44Yeah.
19:45Awesome.
19:46I want to be C-3PO.
19:50X-Men, the one that can morph into,
19:52she's like all blue.
19:53Mystique.
19:54Thank you, Mystique.
19:55Mystique.
19:56And how do you cosplay?
19:57Oh, I guess you have blue and you,
19:58yeah, that makes sense.
19:59Yeah, just blue pants.
20:01Can I borrow your outfit?
20:03Yeah, exactly.
20:04I feel like something inflatable is always quite fun.
20:07Whatever form that might be.
20:09Well, just like inflatable elements of costumes.
20:11So like, you know, riding a dragon or like,
20:15yeah.
20:16Oh, stick with Marshmallow Man.
20:18That would be a great one to cosplay.
20:19Yes.
20:20What is the best costume you've seen so far at Comic-Con?
20:24Me.
20:27That's a decent one.
20:28You weren't disappointed?
20:30Oh.
20:32Keep them coming.
20:34Funny, I saw a really good Mandalorian
20:38and he was pushing a baby stroller
20:41and you could see the baby's head
20:42and the baby had Grogu ears.
20:46And that's a commitment of a family
20:50and I applaud you, I salute you,
20:52and this is the way.
20:56Well, I saw somebody today,
20:58a woman with huge wings.
21:00I don't know what the character was,
21:01but it was an amazing costume.
21:03Yeah, sorry, I don't know what it is.
21:04So if you're out there, you look great.
21:06Who are you?
21:07You can answer this after I've said
21:08the fan that made the costume of Elendil.
21:11For sure.
21:12It's all about me.
21:13It's just ego.
21:14It was fantastic.
21:15I mean, I saw a pretty sick Goku.
21:19I love anime, so like.
21:21What's Goku?
21:22Do you know Dragon Ball?
21:23No.
21:24Wow.
21:25You need to watch Dragon Ball.
21:26Goku's sick.
21:27Just like, yeah.
21:29There was a guy who came dressed as a Lego figure.
21:31Sorry, beg your pardon.
21:32He was brilliant.
21:34Yeah, that was brilliant.
21:35That's the one, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:36The psychopathic Lego figure.
21:39And we had a good Tom Bombadil, didn't we, yesterday?
21:41Yes, we did, yes.
21:42I saw a great invisible man.
21:44Amazing.
21:45I couldn't even see him.
21:46He walked right past me.
21:49Mine was Lego Man.
21:52Right.
21:54Legolasque.
21:55Yes, exactly, exactly.
21:56Oh, people had like denim jackets
21:58that had all of the different rings
22:00named on them and like.
22:02Yeah, it was really cool.
22:04Yeah, yeah.
22:05I enjoyed those.
22:06That's awesome.
22:07Thank you guys so much
22:08for playing the game with the thing.
22:10That was awesome.