‘Lord of the Rings’: Upcoming Amazon Series Adds 20 New Cast Members!!

It’s Lord of the Rings week, apparently. Fresh off the 4K releases of Peter Jackson’s LOTR and Hobbit trilogies, Amazon Studios today announced 20 new cast members that are joining the ensemble for their highly anticipated Lord of the Rings TV series.Set in Middle-earth, this new TV adaptation is said to be a prequel of sorts to The Fellowship of the Ring, covering events that precede what happened in Jackson’s iconic feature film trilogy.“The world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is epic, diverse, and filled with heart,” said series’ executive producers/showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. “These extraordinarily talented performers, hailing from across the globe, represent the culmination of a multi-year search to find brilliant and unique artists to bring that world to life anew. The international cast of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series is more than just an ensemble. It is a family. We are thrilled to welcome each of them to Middle-earth.”

The most notable new additions to the cast are Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Power, Spartacus), Benjamin Walker (Heart of the Sea) and Peter Mullan (Westworld), but other new LOTR cast members are as follows: Maxim Baldry (Years and Years), Ian Blackburn (Unbreakable Beau), Kip Chapman (Top of the Lake), Anthony Crum (The Wilds), Maxine Cunliffe (Power Rangers Megaforce), Trystan Gravelle (The Terror), Sir Lenny Henry (famed British comedian; Broadchurch), Thusitha Jayasundera (Donmar), Fabian McCallum (You, Me & The Apocalypse), Simon Merrells (Knightfall), Geoff Morrell (Grassroots), Lloyd Owen (Apollo 18), Augustus Prew (Into the Dark), Peter Tait (The Return of the King), Alex Tarrant (Filthy Rich), Leon Wadham (Go Girls) and Sara Zwangobani (Doctor Doctor).

These new cast members join previously announced cast that includes Robert Aramayo, OwainArthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, and Morfydd Clark. Production on The Lord of the Rings is currently underway in New Zealand, and the series has already been renewed for Season 2.

Filming on the series was supposed to begin in early 2020, and after shooting the first two episodes, the plan was to take a hiatus and wait for the summer season in New Zealand to begin – and to use that time to write the scripts for Season 2. That plan got waylaid by the pandemic, but filming is now underway with J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) directing the first two episodes.

via Collider