The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Panel
On July 22 at Hall H, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power panel was hosted by none other than one of J.R.R Tolkien‘s biggest fans: Stephen Colbert. The Late Show host—who often discusses his love for the novels on the show—described the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series as “a story of loss.”
Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, alongside executive producer Lindsey Weber, explained that the show is set in the Second Age, thousands of years before the Lord of the Rings takes place. As a result, Patrick shared, the show is “about reintroducing this world and the return of evil.”
Throughout the panel, they were joined by a collection of the show’s impressive cast including Robert Aramayo, Benjamin Walker, Owain Arthur, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Nazanin Boniadi, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sara Zwangobani, Markella Kavenaugh, Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ema Horvath, Maxim Baldry and more.
That includes Sophia Nomvete, who auditioned for the role of Disa—the first female dwarf depicted on-screen in the Tolkien universe—while pregnant. “I auditioned for this role when I was two days away from giving birth,” she explained, adding that she received the role when her daughter was five days old and that her costume had to be designed for easy nursing.
Megan Richards, who plays Poppy Proudfellow, revealed that she was given the opportunity to sing on the show after one of the cast’s karaoke nights. “We love karaoke,” she explained. “We did a lot of it in New Zealand.” Following a performance of the Little Shop of Horrors‘ ”Suddenly, Seymour,” she was asked by Patrick to sing on the series and began working on music with composer Bear McCreary.