Actors Cynthia Addai-Robinson & Benjamin Walker talk to The Inside Reel about leadership, perspective and mythology in regards to the second season of their fantasy series: “The Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power” on Prime Video.
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00:00When the darkness falls, there are always some who rise forth and shine.
00:30You will give me the night.
00:31Run! Don't let him get away!
01:01Run! Don't let him get away!
01:31Run! Don't let him get away!
02:01Sauron sees himself as master of all Middle-earth.
02:25He seeks to rule it not only through conquest,
02:28but by bending the minds of all its peoples to his own.
02:37And for that he needs not armies,
02:42but rings.
02:48In choosing to wear those rings, you have all become his collaborators.
02:53I know you believe this ring is deceiving me,
02:56but I believe it is guiding me.
03:00Yeah, I think having the literature as that original source, you know, sometimes, you know,
03:05when I think for Midiel, like she is established in the lore, but it's a sort of a sketch of a
03:11character and there's this real opportunity to sort of flesh it out and draw from your own
03:17personal inspirations and what the showrunners have also laid out in terms of the plot for the
03:22character. And I just like, you know, when you're pouring through, you know, whatever
03:27section of the lore you happen to be looking at, sometimes it's just like a little, it's a line or
03:34just a piece of information, a detail, and it kind of sets your imagination loose. And so I think,
03:40obviously, there's always that sort of mysterious process, you know, how does an actor sort of
03:45create a character? And I think you're just using things that are useful to you, both in,
03:50you know, the source material, but again, drawing from life, your environment,
03:55your fellow actors and actresses. So it's this kind of lovely stew. And
04:01season two, you're going to see the results of this meaty stew.
04:06All this may be by his design. These rings may be how he attains power.
04:13They must be destroyed. We will discuss the rings once you have answered the question.
04:21Who is this man? He is no man.
04:32He deceived me.
04:36He is Sauron.
04:40What am I to call you? A sharer of gifts.
04:44Our work begins now.
04:48Because you have to build, you know, the thing is, these two are rulers, but they have different
04:52things affecting them on either side, especially going into the season, how they deal, how they
04:57see the strategy of dealing with both internal and external. Can you guys talk about because
05:02that psychology and how they rule sort of determines who they are, and how they are
05:08reflected in you as actors, both physically, emotionally, intellectually.
05:14Well, Gil Gallad, in particular, if you know the books, he has this, he's very prescient in that
05:22he can, he almost anticipates the resurrection of evil multiple times, kind of, he knows there's
05:31a problem coming. And his job, particularly in this season becomes herding cats of how do you
05:39structure those who serve under you, but at the same time, allow them the freedom to find their
05:44own destinies. It's not unlike being a loving parent, in that, okay, I told you not to climb
05:52the tree, you climb the tree. Now you're gonna have to get yourself down. What do we do with
05:58these rings? So letting them make mistakes, pretty much? Well, yeah. And in doing so,
06:06it illuminates some of their strengths, actually, that a bad leader is a structured leader.
06:17A good leader assembles components that function on their own, and then you give them the freedom
06:26to make mistakes. And the safety that in the event that they do, they still have your support,
06:32and you can ultimately, that's how good supersedes evil every time,
06:39is that we don't assume that we're perfect. And I think he understands that.
06:48I have walked across mountains and deserts
06:53to help my friend find his destiny. One the fate of the world may depend on.
06:58Is it my task to stop the fire? Is it my task to face sorrow?
07:08To try and cheat death might lead to an even greater catastrophe.
07:15Father, take off the ring.
07:20I think for Midiel, what's gonna be interesting with her journey in terms of the leadership
07:25aspect is, you know, Farazan, her cousin, is positioning himself this season. And really,
07:33you know, it is interesting to see how they both have deep love for their people and their country,
07:39and they believe that their way is the way forward, or the way that they want to guide
07:44their people. So they have this overlap in terms of, you know, what's motivating them,
07:49but then they have two very different ways of going about it, or worldviews, if you will.
07:55And I think even though there is this sort of, this title, so to speak, for Midiel as,
08:01you know, originally Queen Regent, soon to be Queen, she's also just a person. She is a person,
08:08a citizen of Numenor, and just a person who's navigating all of these concerns, but she's very
08:14isolated in her leadership position. They're very few people that she can sort of turn to and trust.
08:20So there's a lot of just, like, great stuff that it was always fun for me to kind of navigate and
08:25explore alongside, you know, my fellow cast members, and even what the showrunners had
08:30sort of conceived for her arc this season. Because, you know, again, we have the sort
08:36of guideline of what Tolkien's established, but for the series, we are still sort of taking
08:42circuitous routes to certain endpoints. So we still have room to kind of be surprised when we
08:48get the scripts, and for the audience as well, to sort of be surprised at, you know, how the
08:53story's going to unfold this season.
09:18I need your axe, old friend.
09:29Fight with me.
09:33Fight with our friends!
09:48you