In unrelated posts on Instagram, Evangeline Lilly and Nazanin Boniadi announced they are stepping away from acting after being in high profile, but separate, Middle-earth franchise projects.
Tauriel finds her dharma
Evangeline Lilly played Tauriel in The Hobbit trilogy of films, becoming a fan favorite and inspiring some of the best cosplay of that era. She had lines around the block for her SDCC signings at the Weta Workshop booth and became a champion for the fangirl experience.
She parlayed the success of The Hobbit into a title role as The Wasp in the MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe. But being a part of two giant franchises bears a heavy burden. Lilly was on the receiving end of much online criticisms about those movies. As the only main female character in The Hobbit – a book that does not feature any women – she stepped up into a creative situation with everything to prove. Tauriel is now generally appreciated by fandom, but it was a hard-earned.
Instead of wanting to be the people I admire, I now find myself rooting for them. Instead of wanting to compete with my peers, I now want to see them succeed. Instead of seeing little merit in the young, I want to invest in them.
Evangeline Lilly, on IG
On instagram, LOST fans found an old video from her breakout role describing where she wanted to be in 10 years – “Retired.”
Nazanin Boniadi, an accomplished Iranian actress who fans were excited about in the lead up to the debut of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, posted on Instagram about her reasons for leaving the show.
To everyone’s surprise, THR broke the story that Boniadi would not be returning for Season 2 of ROP. Sources in the article claimed she was leaving acting and the show to commit full time to her activism work on behalf of Iranian women. But hours later, Boniadi posted to IG to correct the record, stating “This was unrelated to my subsequent decision to prioritize my advocacy,” and that leaving the show was intentional.
The values I have held most dear are honesty, empathy and integrity. My character Bronwyn was committed to these same ideals in striving for a fairer world, which is why I connected so deeply with her.
Nazanin Boniadi, via IG
The casting process of Prime Video’s The Rings of Power was met with celebration – and some small but loud online vitriol. It’s been no secret that actors of non-white descent received a large amount of negativity directed toward them — including death threats and phone hacking, creating an unsafe environment. There have historically been those dark corners of internet discussion, even going all the way back to Ian McKellen being accused of ruining Tolkien’s story because he was a gay actor playing Gandalf. McKellen eventually responded to the online trolls in his personal blog. But true devotees of Tolkien’s writings understand the core themes of The Lord of the Rings: there is strength in diversity of experience and variety of personhood. LOTR fans continue to embrace the ever-growing casts of these adaptations with open arms. To this blogger, Nazanin’s exit from The Rings of Power is a huge loss to the show.
Deadline reported that the role of Bronwyn has not be recast, unlike the recasting of Adar and – during filming of S1 – of Celebrimbor. Then eagle-eyed fans watching the recent ROP trailers spotted a funeral pyre and Bronwyn’s son Theo crying.
Just a week over the drop of the full length ‘teaser’ trailer from Prime Video, today fans were treated to a FULL trailer (3min long) for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Timed for release in the midst of San Diego Comic-con – and dropping during Prime Video’s Hall H panel – this trailer certainly sweeps away the coy hinting, and gives us a real look at what the story of Rings of Power may be; at least in the first season. But it may also pose more questions than it answers. Take a look:
Theo, played by Tyroe Muhafidin, has joined the list of characters now confirmed as denizens of the Second Age of Middle-earth in Prime Video’s upcoming Rings of Power series. Living with his mother, Bronwyn, in the village of Tirharad, we still know little about Theo’s story or character. We do know, though, that whatever is to come will be entwined with one of the more menacing weapons that Amazon has also revealed: a broken sword and possible family heirloom.
Tyroe Muhafidin as Theo. Credit: Ben Rothstein, Amazon Prime Video
We have seen this sword before, revealed in a series of hands-centric posters that Prime Video released in February. We are still left to speculate about the origin and nature of this broken heirloom – possibly marked by Black Speech – and how Theo and his mother come to possess it. Could this have been crafted by Sauron/Annatar during his seductive stay on Númenor? A remnant of a past migration of Black Númenoreans as they colonized Haradwaith to the south of Gondor? A family heirloom from an absent father, now consumed by a piece of jewelry more powerful than he bargained for?
Credit: Amazon Prime Video
With Theo’s arrival, we are beginning to see some facets of a fuller family in this branch of the storyline that the Rings of Power writers have been crafting. Bronwyn, played by Nazanin Boniadi, is a single mother and village healer, living in apparently rustic conditions with her son well to the south of more familiar Lord of the Rings landscapes. But we know there must be more, even without that broken sword. Bronwyn has a romantic connection with the Sylvan Elf Arondir, played by Ismael Cruz Córdova. (How does Theo feel about that?) And now we also know that Nazanin Boniadi can strike a classic “New Zealand is Middle-earth” pose with the best of our Second Age heroines.
Nazanin Boniadi as Bronwyn. Credit: Ben Rothstein, Amazon Prime Video
And again, we’re left with more questions than answers. Where is Bronwyn headed? Does her regal robe reveal that “village healer” is only a part of her story? Can we get some GPS coordinates for this shooting location? How many cosplay homages will this photo inspire?
Tyroe Muhafidin is a 16-year old Australian actor who has appeared in an array of short films and television series, including Dusk (2018) and Caravan (2019). This will be his first appearance in a major role.
Tyroe Muhafidin
Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerbrings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. The series will launch on September 2, 2022.
This is Halbrand, played by Charlie Vickers and described in Vanity Fair as ‘a mortal castaway … who is a new character introduced in the show … Halbrand is running from the past.’ His leather armour and horse head sword are strongly reminiscent of Rohan; perhaps his people are ancestors of the horse lords?
Yesterday we had speculated that the above image might show Halbrand; but we then confirmed that it is in fact the son of a created human character, Bronwyn, and the hilt he is holding is hers. We’re still wondering why this Bronwyn would have such a sinister looking object, which appears to be marked with dark speech. There is surely some interesting backstory to come here, about this ‘broken heirloom’…
One further comment to make about the above image, which we know shows Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, and described in Vanity Fair as ‘Commander of the Northern Armies’. We remarked yesterday on the eight pointed, Feanorian star on her chest (not seen in the character poster image, but seen in the image from Vanity Fair, below), and wondered what it might signify. Staffer Garfeimao had also pointed out that, below the two trees of Telperion and Laurelin on her dagger hilt, there are three pearls or gems. Could these represent the three Silmarils? And if so, why do we see these markers of Feanor and the Silmarils on Galadriel’s armour and weaponry? Are these simply ancient heirlooms she continues to use, or are the showrunners suggesting they have a special significance for her? Much to ponder!
Here’s what Vanity Fair’s article reveals (or confirms, or in some cases, suggests…) about those 23 character posters we saw last week. (All quotations are from VF’s ‘First Look’ article.)
This is Owain Arthur as Prince Durin IV, ‘prince of the bustling subterranean realm of Khazad-dûm’. As we noted, his hammer hilt reads ‘Awake Sleeping Stone’.
Dwarf princess Disa, played by Sophia Nomvete. Durin’s wife?
Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark, and described in Vanity Fair as ‘Commander of the Northern Armies’. There had been rumours of short hair for Galadriel – the Vanity Fair images show us otherwise! We also see an eight pointed, Feanorian star on her chest. Significant…?
Elrond, played by Robert Aramayo. Vanity Fair describes him as, ‘a politically ambitious young elven leader’ – and he does have short(ish) hair.
This is silvan elf Arondir, a newly created character, who is played by Ismael Cruz Cordova. His closely cropped hair is the shortest of the lot; his earthy, rugged attire sets him apart from the other elves we have seen. Clearly silvan elves are not quite like their high elven kin…
This is Bronwyn, a created human character, and Arondir’s ‘forbidden love’. She is described as a ‘single mother and healer’ – we see her apothecary’s sickle in this image. She’s played by Nazanin Boniadi.
The Rings of Power includes ‘Two lovable, curious harfoots, played by Megan Richards and Markella Kavenagh’. The two character posters above seem most likely to be them.
As we already knew, ‘Brit of Jamaican descent, Sir Lenny Henry, plays a harfoot elder’. Could this image show him? Perhaps the clutched scroll is an indication of his elder wisdom?
From VF: ‘Another story line will follow a sailor named Isildur (Maxim Baldry) years before he becomes a warrior and cuts the soul-corrupting ring off Sauron’s hand, then falls victim to its powers himself.’ Could the rope here suggest a sailor?
The Rings of Power will feature ‘the elven smith Celebrimbor ([played by] Charles Edwards)’. Could either of these seemingly elvish characters be Celebrimbor? Most likely not the one all in gold; this is rumoured to be Gil-galad, and certainly he seems kingly. So do we see Celebrimbor in red?
(My original thinking was this – but see below for an update!)
This one is total guesswork… VF says we encounter, in the ‘Sundering Seas … a mortal castaway named Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), who is a new character introduced in the show. Galadriel is fighting for the future; Halbrand is running from the past. ‘ There aren’t many of the character posters which look like they might be from the world of men. Could THIS be Halbrand? Could the evil looking, broken blade be part of the past from which he is running? (We do see a wooden chest on the raft, when he and Galadriel meet at sea – so it’s possible he bears with him artefacts from his past…)
UPDATE – VF reached out to let us know that this image in fact shows Bronwyn’s (seen above with sickle) son, and the hilt he is holding is hers. But WHY would she have such a sinister looking object…? Some interesting backstory to come there, methinks, about this ‘broken heirloom’…
Finally, VF tells us that our two Harfoots ‘encounter a mysterious lost man whose origin promises to be one of the show’s most enticing enigmas’. Of all the character posters, this to me is the most enigmatic. So I’m putting my money on this dishevelled, grubby character being our mysterious being…
