‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Nazanin Boniadi and Markella Kavenagh Interviews

Prime Video’s set to launch the first season of the epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series on September 2, 2022, and the streaming service made sure everyone who attended the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con knew it’s about to launch. Prime Video hosted a packed panel – 6,000+ in the audience in the San Diego Convention Center’s biggest hall and 21 cast members on stage – to reveal more of what’s in store with this journey into J.R.R. Tolkien’s Second Age of Middle-earth, populated by elves, dwarves, men, orcs, and harfoots.

Wait, harfoots? While hobbits didn’t exist before the Third Age, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power features their evolutionary predecessors known as harfoots.

Markella Kavenagh plays a harfoot named “Nori Brandyfoot,” and the Brandyfoot family will be key characters in The Rings of Power. Kavenagh was one of the 21 cast members who made the trek to San Diego for the sold-out Comic-Con, and we grabbed a short interview with her to talk about the series. Nazanin Boniadi also took part in the panel, and the red carpet that followed it, and discussed her character – a human mother and healer named “Bronwyn.”

Markella Kavenagh Interview – “Nori Brandyfoot”

What did they tell you about Nori during the audition process?

Markella Kavenagh: “I didn’t know anything. I had the code name – the alias when I first heard about the character – so I really didn’t know much about her. And then I had a meeting with the showrunners and then they told me, ‘Oh yes, this is who you are going to be playing.’ And so that was great, and we did get kind of like a one-pager, just some context about who you’re related to, who you’re connected to, or who you will be interacting with in this season. And that was really helpful. But then it was kind of building upon that and creating another foundation.”

Was there something that you learned in that one-pager that stood out about Nori?

Markella Kavenagh: “I think what stood out to me was her balance between adventure and responsibility and curiosity and responsibility and the burden that both of them carry. And I hope that people can actually relate to that in their real life and kind of see how we can grapple with both and hope that the two can coexist, but it isn’t always the case.”

Is that something you grapple with?

Markella Kavenagh: “I think so. I think to an extent, depending on the situation.”

What was it like stepping onto the sets and being immersed in this world?

Markella Kavenagh: “I mean, for us, I genuinely feel like the environment was a character. We shot so much on location – super fortunate – and the crew were just so incredible, and everything was very detailed down to the dressing of the carts that are like our homes. We carry our homes on our backs. Yeah, it’s very detailed. So, yeah, it was such an immersive experience and invaluable to be a part of and I’m truly…I’m so grateful.”

Why is she going to be a fan favorite?

Markella Kavenagh: “Oh my goodness, I’m not sure if she’s going to be the fan favorite. I just hope people relate to her and that her curiosity and her vulnerability resonates with people.”

Did you like The Lord of the Rings? Are you into fantasy?

Markella Kavenagh: “Yeah, I love Lord of the Rings. It’s a big kind of family favorite. The books were massive for me growing up. Really opened it up and really kind of added a bit of…they’re set in a fantastical context but the themes we can all relate to in our real lives.”

Is this a standalone series in that it isn’t necessary to watch The Lord of the Rings to understand this?

Markella Kavenagh: “Yeah, I think so. I would hope so because it’s set thousands of years before the Third Age. It’s a nice actual kind of introduction to some of Tolkien’s lure. And hopefully, it inspires people to go back to the books. Or this new generation to go back to the books.”

Nazanin Boniadi Interview – “Bronwyn”

What was your reaction to being cast in The Rings of Power?

Nazanin Boniadi: “Never in a million years did I think I would be cast in a project like this when I watched the films 20 years ago. [As] an Iranian, it was never something [I expected]. I started acting in the post-911 climate where everything that I was getting was sort of a human shield or, you know, very stereotypically Middle Eastern characters, which fortunately I didn’t do a lot of – or any that I could remember. But my point is when I got this, I’m pinching myself because the first comedy I did was How I Met Your Mother – one of the biggest comedies on US TV. Then the first drama I did was Homeland – one of the biggest dramas. And now my first foray into fantasy is Rings of Power.

I don’t know how this keeps happening, but I seem to find like sort of the top tier of the genre that I’m doing. And I’m pinching myself because it’s a real dream come true.”

There are so many characters and it’s such an expansive world, do we get to know much of your backstory? Is it divulged in little bits over time?

Nazanin Boniadi: “It’s a bit at a time and you’ll see it unfold. But I think that what I can tell you is that she’s a healer. She’s from the Southlands. Her ancestors chose evil over good, and they are being forced to redeem themselves and prove themselves that they can be trusted. And her journey, that journey for her comes through finding her inner lioness and strength and resilience.

And also, she’s a single mother of a rebellious teenage son in a forbidden romance with an elf. So, lots going on for this character.”

She could have her own show.

Nazanin Boniadi: [Laughing] “She could; she might. I just might ask for a spinoff.”

Did they provide you with lots of information on her backstory so that you’d know going in what to latch onto?

Nazanin Boniadi: “Yes, that – and also J.D. (Payne) and Patrick (McKay’s) brains are like encyclopedias. You have a couple of conversations with them and basically it’s like, ‘Okay, I know what I’m doing.’”

Is there someone in particular who we should look for Bronwyn to be interacting with?

Nazanin Boniadi: “Well, she’s got that sort of…she’s in that trio, isn’t she? Her son, played by Tyroe (Muhafidin), and Ismael Cordova plays the love interest. We’re in this forbidden romance together. So, that’s the trio that my world really is in.”

You’re playing a healer so did you do your own research into that world?

Nazanin Boniadi: “So, I was premed – believe it or not. I was going to be a doctor so, yeah, my degree is in biology. I started acting in my mid-20s, so I was going to go be a doctor. I call Bronwyn the fantastical version of myself because she’s an activist; I’m an activist. She’s a healer, I was premed. We have so much in common, so yeah.”

Why is she going to become a fan favorite?

Nazanin Boniadi: “Well, from your lips to people’s ears. I mean, yes, that would be phenomenal, but I think because everybody can relate to someone overcoming and against all odds. Particularly in this day and age, to have a woman with no superpowers. She has no superpowers, keep in mind…

Wait, healing is a superpower.

Nazanin Boniadi: “That’s true and motherhood is a superpower, too. People don’t really think about that.”

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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.