“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is as big a TV show as TV has ever been, with a record budget spent on recreating JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth during the Second Age and a cast of nearly two dozen regulars. series and dozens more featured players developed to present its massive story of the rise of Sauron.
And yet one character is undeniably at the center of the series: Galadriel. The ancient elf, so large that he was born before the moon and sun first graced Middle Earth, was a crucial character in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings novels and Peter Jackson’s Rings trilogy, as played by Kate Blanchett.
In “The Rings of Power,” set thousands of years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” a younger Galadriel is not yet the serene and wise co-ruler of the Elven kingdom of Lothlórien. Instead, she is consumed by her hunt for the Dark Lord Sauron, the mysteriously absent lord of evil responsible for the death of Galadriel’s brother. In “Rings of Power,” Galadriel is instantly hardened by the millennia she’s already alive, but not yet the noble (and formidable) woman of stature she becomes in the Third Age.
Somehow, Morfydd Clark (“Saint Maud”) manages to capture all these dimensions of the character. In her review, Variety critic Caroline Framke praised Clark’s “capture of gravitas”, noting that “in making Galadriel equal parts voice of reason and hero of battle, Clark proves the series’ most reliable constant ».
A lifelong Tolkien fan thanks to her parents, Clark innately understands how important Galadriel is. “My friends are all huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans and I have to tell you, they describe her a lot to me,” she tells Variety. “He is a living legend. a living legend.”
And yet, Clarke explains that it wasn’t until she agreed to join “The Rings of Power” — and arrived in New Zealand in the fall of 2019 to film the first season — that she learned from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay. that, in fact, she was given as Galadriel. Thanks to the pandemic, the experience became a nearly two-year adventure, pushing the now 33-year-old to push past what she thought were her own limitations. She spoke with Variety about training to perform Galadriel’s many stunts, how her Welsh heritage helped her with Tolkien’s elven language, what it was like to spend so much unexpected time in New Zealand, and what she would say to Tolkien fans who are surprised they saw Galadriel as an evil warrior.
When during the audition process did you realize you were in the running to play Galadriel?
I didn’t know I was playing Galadriel when I got to New Zealand. I knew I was playing some elf. I knew it was in the Second Age. Me and my sister were reading it all, and I was thinking that I was Celebrían, her daughter, because I don’t think I could fathom that it would be Galadriel. So I went to New Zealand not knowing who I was playing, which looking back now, is really, really crazy. Everyone in the cast did the same. We all plunged into this madness together and we all met down there. Once I arrived I found out who I was playing and obviously had to recalibrate. I still can’t believe who I’m playing.
How much did you know about Galadriel’s full story before you found out you were playing her?
I knew The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I hadn’t delved into “The Silmarillion” at all, really. I had no idea what he had done. There is a passage where Tolkien describes Galadriel as tying her hair into a crown with a braid as she goes into battle. I was kind of like, wow, this opens up so much, that this happened. And also, Tolkien changed his ideas about Galadriel, which makes her more interesting. I became obsessed with like, why did Tolkien need to be Galadriel at that point? It’s kind of like he fell more in love with her, I think, as he got older, and so there’s a fluidity to her character.
Only in the first two episodes you climb, fight, swim, dive deep into the water. Did you have a feeling that your role would be this physical, at least?
No. It was a big surprise. I’ve never seen myself as a natural with these things. I’m dyslexic. I had extra time in the exam because I was really bad at writing. So I really thought I couldn’t do all that. The people I had worked with were so wonderful to make me do this. It is proof to them that I did all these things. The acrobatics section was just amazing, and not just in terms of what they taught us physically, but part of it is that it gets in the way of your mind [that you can do it]. I really think everyone would do well to learn from the stunt teams in New Zealand. If school was like stunt school for us in this job, we’d all be a lot happier.
What did you actually do to prepare? What was the process?
We’d start each morning with three hours of acrobatics, which would involve some general strength, flexibility and, of course, swords. And there were times in the beginning where there were about 20 of us there. , and we were learning to sword fight and then playing it as a group of elves, which was really fun. We had an amazing personal trainer named Matt who, at times, I despised. But I think that’s part of being a good personal trainer. I did a lot of climbing, which I like anyway. It’s nice to have one thing you’re learning that you’re already kind of good at. Otherwise, you could be a little desperate. And then swimming. I thought I could swim and after my first lesson I realized I was wrong and should never be in the sea. But now I can swim, thanks to Trent Bray.
What was it like for you to incorporate the language of the elves into your show?
Well, I went to a Welsh language school and everything is taught in Welsh. Welsh is phonetic so is much better for a dyslexic. I started learning English in my third year and I said “What is this?” Something my Tolkien-obsessed mum was really proud of and passed down to us was that Tolkien was inspired by Wales. Oddly enough, his works were a badge of honor for me because the Welsh are obsessed with the Welsh and anything Welsh. It was really great to play a bilingual character. And yes, I think it served me very well.
Some fans have a very specific image of Galadriel in their head as this regal woman of the forest who isn’t physical in the way you are on the show. What would you say to fans who are a little surprised or skeptical about Galadriel’s portrayal in “The Rings of Power”?
I’d say her composure is hard earned. I don’t think you get to that level of wisdom without going through things. He actually talks about [how] with wisdom, there is a loss of innocence, which was very good for me to find in worship. Why, for example, how young are you when you are still thousands of years old? So he was thinking about what innocence he lost during this time. Elves in the Third Age have evolved somewhat. Elves in the First Age are really messy and they bicker and fight and make fun of each other a lot. It is the history of Middle-earth, and thus they are changed forever. It was really interesting for all of us who play canon characters to explore how these characters become who we know them to be.
The show is a huge commitment – the showrunners have said they are planning a 50-episode run. All my questions were prepared thinking you knew more about the show, so how much of that commitment was a factor in you signing up to do “The Rings of Power”?
Yeah, I didn’t know that. When you audition for something like this, you never know you’re going to get it, so you don’t really think about these things. In fact, I personally refuse to allow myself to imagine or dream, because otherwise, you get so attached to everything you audition for. I think I’m still getting acclimated to what that means. The next few weeks are going to be huge on this, but also kind of a relief. You make things to be seen and enjoyed. It’s about time that happened with it. But I think I’ll have another acclimatization period.
How long were you in New Zealand from start to finish?
It was meant to be nine months and then ended up in New Zealand from October 2019 to August 2021. Almost two years.
So what did you do to pass the time?
There was not much time to pass, for we were quite busy. I was really lucky to go to the South Island, which was just amazing. I mean, in New Zealand, you’re just in a constant state of high, you really are. This was very important considering that Elves are obsessed with nature. Beauty is such a huge part of who they are and what they somehow see as their reason for being alive. So that was really inspiring. I did a lot of crafts. I was also very lucky to become very good friends with my neighbors, who kind of took me under their wing. You know, I didn’t expect when I went to New Zealand that I would feel like I was leaving home again when I came back. And that was it – yes. [Long pause.] I feel so lucky to have been welcomed to the New…
