One of the major draws at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con was the first-ever panel for Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. 21 members of the cast took the stage, along with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, to discuss bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age of Middle-earth’s history to life in the epic fantasy series premiering on September 2, 2022.
In addition to the packed Hall H panel hosted by Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert, cast members hit the red carpet to briefly talk about their roles in the much-anticipated series. Here’s what Benjamin Walker (“High King Gil-galad”) had to say about delving into this fantasy world during our interview at the San Diego Comic-Con. (High King Gil-galad is the ruler of the Elven, a keen military commander who formed the last alliance of Elves and Men, and a sworn enemy of Sauron.)
This is a massive cast and it’s going to be an epic tale, but how much backstory do we get to know about High King Gil-galad?
Benjamin Walker: “Quite a bit. Yeah, there’s some good material about Gil-galad in the text. Most people know him from the song that Sam sings in the movies. And also, because he’s been alive so long even if it’s not specifically about him, you know he lived through this time, through these wars, through destruction, [and] through death, there’s a lot you can glean about him. But that’s part of the fun is the research.”
Did they give you basically a bible that tells you everything about the character? How much did they fill you in?
Benjamin Walker: “There was someone to help you in whatever capacity you needed. I had some context and I like doing that kind of work, but they’ve got Tolkien experts on language, calligraphy, history, and clothes. They’ve found the two people on the planet that are the best at it and brought them all together, so we have tons of support from Amazon.”
Was there something about him in particular that you really latched onto and you thought, “Okay, this is who I’m playing. This is what I need to get across?”
Benjamin Walker: “Gil-galad in the books has this prescient sense of he’s always a bit ahead of curve on anticipating the rise of evil and that kind of ultra-vigilance. And he understands that the price of peace is vigilance and that gives him a kind of melancholy, but I like it about him. He’s constantly on the lookout. He’s the guy at the party when everyone’s having a good time who’s going, ‘Something doesn’t feel right.’”
Interesting. Can you relate to that at all?
Benjamin Walker: “Yeah, oh absolutely! I’m always like, ‘Turn the music down, guys. The cops are going to come!’”
What was your first reaction when found out that they were doing a Lord of the Rings series, and did you immediately say yes?
Benjamin Walker: “Yeah. I mean, especially when I understood what they were going to try to do. I told this story earlier but it’s a true story. J.D. called me to pitch the job and I couldn’t hear him on the phone. He was talking about the character – and he’s a very fast talker on the phone – and the trajectory and, ‘Here’s where it’s going to go. It’s going to be incredible!’ I kept hearing like a PA in the background. I said, ‘J.D., I can’t hear you. Where are you?’ He said, ‘I’m in the hospital.’”
Oh, god.
Benjamin Walker: [Laughing] “Yeah, that’s what I said. ‘What are you doing? Are you bleeding? What’s going on?’ He said, ‘No, my wife, she just had a baby.’ And I’m like, ‘And you’re talking to me? Yeah, I’ll do the job. Go! She’s going to kill you.’”
You can’t say no at that point. You’d feel really guilty.
Benjamin Walker: “No! But also, the fear of taking on a job like this is the level of commitment that it will require. But when the showrunner is living that life, it puts you right at ease and you’re like, ‘Okay, great.’”
Do you think the people who watch this are going to need to know anything about the universe?
Benjamin Walker: “No. I mean, you can learn as much as you want to learn, and I think this show will inspire an entire new generation of viewers to go read the books. But no. Come in, let it wash over you, put on your seatbelt, and go for the ride. You don’t need to know anything. We’re going to give it to you.”
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Prime Video’s released the following description of season one:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
