The first three episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 were released on Prime Video on August 29. As fans have their eyes glued to screens, cast members Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle and director Charlotte Brändström joined NDTV’s Arun Singh for an exclusive interview. When asked about the “all-female slate” of directors and how their collaboration contributed to a beautiful outcome, Charlotte Brändström explained, “The important thing is to collaborate to follow the characters and that is the most that they all make sense so you need to be in touch all the time to discuss it. And then I was part of season 1 so I could share a bit of my experience with season one with the directors about the looks, the visuals, what we wanted to look for.”
She continued, “And I prepared a lot to find the look of season two because we wanted to go darker, different, stronger, more dramatic. So we tried to find out that sort of darker look and wanted every world to have its own personality, its own character, its own colour. So, those are moments and things you need to share with other directors.”
Cynthia Addai-Robinson was asked about how she prepared for the role of Míriel. She responded, “The preparation starts from just when you are cast because already you are starting to consume in mind as much as you can. That was already established by talking himself in both (Cynthia Addai-Robinson and Trystan Gravelle) of our characters are in the Lord, so we have the benefit of what he created. But then where there are gaps where there is room to interpret or add your own sense of experience, I think that’s when it gets really exciting because you feel like you can really sort of use the intention of the author with our intentions for power with my own desires for how I want this character to come across.”
When Trystan Gravelle was asked if his character Pharazôn’s political skills are like his own, he joked, “You know what you have got to do. It is a game of survival, just as life is for everybody. It is all you, one foot in front of the other and just be aware of your surroundings.”
Charlotte Brändström also discussed how the first season was filmed in New Zealand and the second in the UK. While comparing the two locations, she said, “It was the transportation between sets and my house. Because, in New Zealand, it takes 20 minutes to go to work in the morning because everything is closed in Auckland and in London, it is like an hour and a half because of traffic because everything is further away.”
The next five episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 will be released weekly on Prime Video every Thursday.