Why 'The Stranger' required a medic on The Rings of Power S2
Daniel Weyman is returning for Season 2 of ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ as the enigmatic 'The Stranger.' He addressed fan speculation about his character and revealed Season 2 secrets while talking from the World Premiere of Season 2.
The cast and crew of ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ were attending the Season 2 World Premiere at the BFI Southbank in London. The first three episodes of the new season launches on Prime Video on Friday August 29th, 2024. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
The cast and crew of ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’ were attending the Season 2 World Premiere at the BFI Southbank in London. The first three episodes of the new season launches on Prime Video on Friday August 29th, 2024. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transcript
00:00I mean it is hugely energising, you know, you come to a place like this and it is extraordinary
00:06to think what the creative minds and the logistical minds have managed to throw up.
00:12They continually surprise you when you're on set and you work.
00:15The Tom Bombadil set was extraordinary, you know, that was really the only set that I
00:19worked on.
00:20A lot of location work, that was extraordinary and Tenerife, you know, up a volcano and seeing
00:24this arid desert landscape for real, being miles from anywhere, you know, hot, all these
00:29things.
00:30So everywhere you turn with Rings of Power it seems to be extraordinary and hopefully
00:34the audience sees that on the television screen.
00:36I certainly think when I watched season one that it was really palpable how much talent
00:42and joy and effort and, you know, sort of commitment had gone into the season and hopefully
00:47that's going to be there season two as well.
00:48Do you allow yourself to look at fan speculation when it comes to The Stranger?
00:52Do you enjoy seeing their speculation about who The Stranger might be?
00:56I definitely do and the reason that I enjoy it is because people have such clear foundational
01:03reasons for their version of where he's going to go.
01:06You know, they're like, I know it's going to be this character because and then they
01:08explain and it's really humbling as an actor to see how much the stories mean to so many
01:13different people and how they can come to very different conclusions about the same
01:17person that they've watched so far.
01:19I think for me it's about staying in the present.
01:21You know, I'm really lucky that I've built from a blank slate, scene by scene by scene,
01:26provided I can stay present in the moment, work with these wonderful actors that I work
01:29with, Markella Kavanagh, Megan Richards, and be committed to that and keep ploughing myself
01:35into that then hopefully the showrunners can take that theme, run with it and create their
01:40overarc of the story and that's what the audience is going to see.
01:43I know that even the actors are often kept in the dark when it comes to certain things.
01:48Are you even aware of who the Stranger is?
01:51When it comes to fan speculation, can you be like, tick, that one's correct or...
01:54Oh, well, I think the weird thing about it is up to episode 8, season 1, there was a
02:00possibility I thought I might be playing Sauron.
02:02You know, I read the beginning of episode 8 and the mystics say, you are Lord Sauron
02:06and I was like, I was reading it with Markella and I was like, oh my god, I'm Lord Sauron,
02:10you know, and then suddenly about five pages later, like, he is not Lord Sauron.
02:14I was like, no, no, no, I'm not, you know.
02:15So I think that has been a joy for me.
02:19I think it's like in life, isn't it, who will I be in five years' time, I've no idea but
02:23the only way to get there is to live the present and if I can commit to the present, the future
02:27will take care of itself.
02:28I sort of feel that with the Stranger.
02:30He's a joy to play.
02:31And without giving spoilers away, you seem to be very good at not doing so.
02:35When it comes to season 2, what's a moment or a scene or an episode that you are particularly
02:39excited for fans to see and you think they can have a big reaction?
02:42I think for me, one of the most difficult scenes was in Tenerife.
02:47The Stranger is trying to protect his, you know, the group that he's in.
02:50Nori and Poppy have already tried to protect him in certain ways and now it's his turn
02:54to step up and he really feels that he's got this.
02:57This is within his wheelhouse and he starts off and he starts to think, you know, this
03:01is working, I'm good at this and a little bit of pride creeps in and as the pride creeps
03:07in, he doesn't, because he's not so well formed yet, he lets it go and it infects his nature
03:12and I'm afraid he goes a little bit too far and things turn out very, very bad.
03:17It was amazing to see, to film, you know, hopefully it'll be an amazing scene to watch.
03:22I had a lot of sand in my eyes, that's all I'm going to say.
03:25A few medics were called for watering my eyes, but yeah, that was a pretty special scene.