Cast members from Amazon Prime’sThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerrecently commented on the racist backlash many continue to receive simply for being part of the show. Luckily, they can move past such things as they gear up for the show’s highly-anticipated second season.
ManyRings of Poweractors had to overcome racist backlashbefore the show premiered and continue to deal with it to this day. For some reason, a potent group ofLord of the Ringsfans seems to take it as a personal affront when they see people of color in any role. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is prevalent across all forms of media, particularly when the franchise in question tended more toward white actors in past iterations. But the actors themselves are having none of it.
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During an appearance at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in Monaco on Sunday (as reported byVariety), cast members Owain Arthur (Prince Durin IV), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Queen Regent Míriel of Númenor), Lloyd Owen (Captain Elendil), and Maxim Baldry (Isildur) spoke about several topics, with the fan bigotry taking point for some of the conversations. Addai-Robinson, who has faced some of the backlash, seemed eager to put such things behind her. “What I’m looking forward to, as we move on to Season 2, is allowing that conversation to be in the past and just plow ahead,” she stated. “When you have progress, it’s like we’re not going to go backward from the things that we’ve established. I’m ready to acknowledge it and move on from it, because I think we’ve kind of said all there is to say, really. I know that I have.”
While her willingness to take the high road is commendable,otherLord of the Ringsactors are less willing to let the racist backlash go. Fellow cast member Arthur had a more pointed response to the hatred. “I mean, it is infuriating. Like, you go: ‘Oh, God, really? Are we still there as a human race?’ That drives me wild,” he said of the abuse his castmates of color have been suffering. “The guys have been through a lot — to be on the receiving end of things — and I hope one day, we will, as a human race, just be one. I mean, it sounds kind of maybe pathetic or dramatic what I’m saying here, but, genuinely, just stop racism.”
They also spoke aboutdevelopments inThe Rings of Powerseason 2, which looks pretty exciting. “We all know that Sauron has been revealed at the end [of Season 1], and therefore what happens when that amount of evil is finally realized? Each person throughout the universe, throughout [Lord of the Ringsauthor J.R.R. Tolkien’s] world, is going to be affected by that,” Owen said. Baldry added a tease of his own, saying, “I’d say it’s a little more action-packed. There’s a lot more action.”
“Season 1 is really about an introduction,” Addai-Robinson said ofThe Rings of Powerso far. “You’re setting the stage for aspects of the story that are maybe a little bit more familiar to audiences, because we do know a little bit more of these next few things that happen, that will be part of Season 2… But there are a lot of people who have never read the books. They’ve never seen the movies. So that Season 1 setup really is, in my mind, it’s really for those people who are very new to Tolkien… So, Season 2, you’re going to see a lot of storyline start to come through.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 1 is available to stream on Prime Video, with season 2 coming in 2024.
