LOTR prequel series The Rings of Power is off to a primo start on Prime Video, and Stephen A. Russell spoke to the key Australian talent wielding those Harfoot wigs and South Lands weaponry. Scroll to read his conversations with Markella Kavenagh, Sara Kwangobani, Tyroe Muhafidin, and Nazanin Bofiadi.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season 1
The magnificently lush canvas that is New Zealand stands in for Middle Earth once more in Prime Video’s jaw-dropping The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But as with Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving’s elven royalty in the Peter Jackson movies, some of its key talent have hopped across the ditch from Australia—including The Cry star Markella Kavenagh.
Kavenagh plays curly-mopped Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot—a rosy-cheeked harfoot. They are distant relatives of Shire-settled hobbits Bilbo, Frodo and co., who we of course meet thousands of years later. Mentioned briefly in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, they hop from place to place, travelling in caravans.
Nori’s curiosity far outreaches her diminutive frame when she inspects the mysterious contents of a comet fallen from the stars. “What can you do? There’s always gonna be one,” Kavenagh chuckles. “She has the best intentions, so even when she’s being a bit of a troublemaker or taking risks that are probably not the wisest, she’s leading with love.”
Diving headlong into the remarkable beauty of New Zealand while shooting was a real treat, she says: “I had never been. It’s incredible, and now I’m recommending it to everyone because the people are so lovely, and the crew in particular was just so welcoming. It’s just a very, very beautiful place.”
Fellow Australian Sara Zwangobani—who plays Nori’s put-upon mother, Marigold—agrees. “I’m a mother myself, so I really connected to that struggle that Marigold has, wanting what’s best for her child. But in actual fact, does she know what’s best? Or is Nori starting to work it out herself? My daughter is still quite young, so this was good practice for me.”
If Jackson’s hobbits primarily affected the buoyant burr of England’s West Country, then The Rings of Power’s harfoots sound like they’ve just sailed over from Ireland. Funnily enough, it was another Australian—dialect coach Leith McPherson—who was in charge of keeping their accents straight.
The sneaky forces of dark lord Sauron have many wily ways to corrupt the innocent. Which is why it’s a red flag when Theo, a young human hailing from the South Lands, finds himself in possession of a whispering, smoke-shrouded broken sword hilt that gives off seriously bad vibes.
As played by another Australian, spirited Perth lad Tyroe Muhafidin, early episodes leave you guessing which way he will turn. “I think Theo has a lot of questions, and he’s at a time in his life where he’s wondering what his purpose is,” he says. “He’s got a lot of different voices in his ears and he’s a bit torn.”
This plot strand leads to a magnificently creepy battle that steals the second episode by leaning heavily into horror vibes. “We spent months rehearsing those stunts and it took us maybe two weeks to film it all as well, which was really fun,” Muhafidin says with a big grin.
Homeland star Nazanin Boniadi plays his mother, Bronwyn, the village medic. She inherits the time-honoured LOTR mantle of “human with the hots for an elf” from Viggo Mortensen. Bronwyn has major will-they-won’t-they chemistry with dreamy elf Arondir (Ismael Cruz Cordova).
“He’s tasked with watching over the South Landers. So there’s not only that forbidden aspect of an elf and human who shouldn’t be together, but there’s also this power dynamic”, says Boniadi. “Because Bronwyn’s supposed to be the good, lowly occupied sort, and she won’t have an ounce of it. She’s strong-willed, which I think he quite likes.”
Bonding big time, the onscreen mother and son visited the Hobbiton set on their days off. “Naz is quite a bit more experienced than I am, so she took me under her wing,” Muhafidin says. Not that there’s much room under there now, Boniadi notes: “I can’t believe he was 14 when I met him and was shorter than me, now he’s 17 and taller. I love this young man. He’s so grounded and humble.”
As for where their paths will take them when Middle Earth goes to war once more, Boniadi says you’ll have to tune in to find out. “That’s the great thing about Tolkien: there are shades of grey. Nobody is wholly good or bad.”
