The world of JRR Tolkien is one of deep lore and philosophical themes. Maxim Baldry, who plays Isildur in Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, ponders upon the enduring appeal of Tolkien’s world. “Even though all of the characters are in a fantasy world, fighting orcs or spiders, they are still exploring human emotions and what it means to be human. These existential questions permeate the world of Tolkien”, he says.
The actor further adds how everyone could find a Tolkien character they could relate to and reveals how he related to his character. “I saw myself in Isildur. He feels lost and misunderstood and a lot of us can relate to that growing up. That is the great thing about Tolkien’s world because you can see yourself in a lot of these characters.” Baldry also reveals how he read Silmarillion to prepare for the role.
“The chapter titled Akallabeth, which describes the fall of Numenor, helped me understand Isildur a lot”, he says. On the other hand, Lloyd Owen, who plays Elendil, Isildur’s father in the series, understood his character through Tolkien’s own Biblical references. Owen says, “Elendil is a combination of Noah and Job from the Old Testament. Job tries to keep his faith after so many losses and that is what we begin to see with Elendil in season 2. Obviously, Noah’s trait of building an ark to save himself and his people is there in Elendil as well but Job is the greater comparison.”
With Elendil and Isildur separated and Sauron/Halbrand setting his plans in motion, the first season of The Rings of Power ended with a compelling hook. The second season premieres today, on Prime Video, with 3 episodes. “Things were bubbling up in season one but the second season is an absolute explosion. There are a lot of very difficult moments for Elendil.
The dark forces of Sauron have reached further into Arda”, says Lloyd Owen. The actor reveals how Elendil is torn between his love for his daughter and his loyalty to his queen in the second season. “I think what happened to him, which has happened to a lot of us, is that grief lands in different ways. He has to shut down and there is a lot of denial.
“He also has to struggle to come to terms with the fact that his daughter supports Ar-Pharazon while he stays loyal to queen Miriel. In the second season, an ancient Elven artefact known as the Palantir comes into play and creates absolute chaos. And it is tied to Elendil and his daughter.” According to Maxim Baldry, being pulled apart by conflicting ideals seems to be a theme that Isildur will also deal with in the second season.
He says, “In the first season, Isildur is grieving the death of his mother, he desperately wanted to leave Numenor and explore the world. But in season two, he does not want all the things he wanted in the first season. In the second season, he meets this mysterious woman named Estrid and they have both lost a lot in their lives. So, they bond over their traumas. He is being forced to survive now and all of these experiences will tell you why he doesn’t throw the one ring into the fire.”
Lloyd Owen says that portraying such inner conflicts is one of the best things about his job. He demonstrates his point by describing Elendil. “There is something inherently good in Elendil. But the privilege of this job is to show the 3-dimensionality of a character with all their inner conflicts.” He then reveals how Elendil evolves through the second season.
“Since Queen Miril is blind in the second season, Elendil has to do all the ‘seeing’ for her. She teaches him politics, she is building this future leader, who leads the last alliance of Elves and Men. He is not ready to do this now but he is shaping up to be a leader.
What is exciting about this role and about what the writers are doing here is that we are shown the steps towards great leadership. It shows how you are not born with great leadership; you have to learn great leadership.”
When asked who they would like to play in The Rings of Power, if not for the characters they are currently portraying, both the actors give a similar answer. While both would love to play an Elf, they are also deeply fascinated by Dwarves. “Elrond is interesting to me for that reason. He is not fully Elven, he is not fully accepted by the elves and he has a vision and very firm opinions.
That tension is very interesting to me as an actor”, says Owen. Meanwhile, Baldry signs off with a philosophical take on why Elves are interesting. “Personally, I am fascinated by Elves, to see times change and evolve, to see people come and go. But, I have a special love for Dwarves.”