Ahead of the return of Amazon’s formerly-shot-in-New Zealand Rings of Power, Dominic Corry speaks to the cast about how much they miss us, really.
For a country whose national identity is an inferiority complex, we are surprisingly overt in the pride we have for our prominent association with adaptations of the works of JRR Tolkien. That first Lord of the Rings trilogy gave us all a little boost on the world stage, then the Hobbit films kept the feeling alive.
When Amazon Prime Video announced that they were mounting an ambitious live-action Lord of the Rings prequel series based on supplementary Tolkien material, it made sense to us that it would be made in New Zealand, even if Peter Jackson wasn’t involved and the production was more of an Auckland-based affair than the movies.
So it’s safe to say we felt some kind of way when it was announced that the show was moving to the UK after the first season finished shooting here. We’ve never quite gotten a clear consensus over the reasons for the move (Amazon choosing to focus on their new production hub in the UK and enduring Covid-related travel problems were both in the mix), and some recriminations followed the announcement.
“As a Kiwi, this is a bit of a bummer,” noted a Reddit user at the time, speaking on behalf of us all. “Everyone here knows someone who has worked on Lord of the Rings at some point or in some way. Will be a shame to see such a massive production shift.”
But another universal truth about New Zealanders is that we love hearing about how great our country is. I’m sure all visiting actors get sent an instructional video where Tem Morrison educates them on this critical aspect of working in New Zealand (“just keep using the word ‘beautiful.’ Feel free to mention the coffee,” he would hypothetically intone while strolling around Hobbiton).
Recently at San Diego Comic Con, I got to test this theory out with pretty much the entire cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, who were presented in pairs in a cavernous boardroom. They were there to discuss the show’s second season, a much more Sauron-focused affair which sees the three Elven rings of power out in the world, and the impending forging of the seven dwarf rings and the nine rings for men.
But all I wanted to know was one thing: how much did they miss New Zealand after the move?
Welsh actor Morfydd Clark, who plays a young, slightly more impetuous Galadriel in the show, and who was known to have been spotted at Karangahape Road’s Bestie Cafe on occasion, seemed genuinely wistful about the shift. “It was a big transition,” Clark told me. “There’s this Welsh word – ‘hiraeth’ – that is a type of longing for home that can’t be satisfied. I felt that a lot when I was in New Zealand, and I didn’t realise that I’d be there long enough, and also be so loved and welcomed by the people there, that now that I’m back [in the UK], I have that for New Zealand.”
Not bad.
American actor Benjamin Walker (who plays Elven High King Gil-galad) remembered me from when I interviewed him for the first season, when he told me he misses the coffee and that his young son still had a Kiwi accent. He knew he had to give me something special this time, and he didn’t disappoint: “It’s like the way the elves long for Valinor [basically Elf heaven],” said Walker. “It was magical and we miss it. Also, because of the circumstances of what was happening around the world, to have been able to be there and be made to feel so at home.”
There’s one essential part of Kiwi life that Walker shouted out: “Walking down Ponsonby Road with your shoes off. You can’t do that in Windsor, let me tell you.” Not a lot of visitors celebrate our barefootedness. It’s often deemed the worst thing about us, so extra points to Walker for getting onboard with this local custom.
And yes, he means that Windsor. The show’s current home, Bray Studios, an hour or so outside London, where they used to shoot Hammer horror films in the 1960s, is just a few miles up the road from Windsor Castle. And Legoland. Not sure how we’re supposed to compete with that. We have no royal castles and no Hammer horrors were shot at Kumeu Studios. Although Disney’s Zombies 4 did recently lens there.
When I spoke to him for season one, Puerto Rican actor Ismael Cruz Córdova (who plays Silvan elf Arondir) was proudly sporting a pounamu, so I wasn’t surprised when he told me he was “distraught” to leave us. “Aotearoa New Zealand gave us a home in a time that was so uncertain. I mean, we got quote unquote stuck there and we were embraced in such a wonderful way. But, going to England, it’s also great. Living in London is wonderful. It’s two different experiences really, but both lovely.”
Oh, OK.
London-based Australian actor Charlie Vickers – whose character Halbrand initially presented as something of an Aragorn type then was revealed to actually be the Dark Lord Sauron at the end of season one – knew what I wanted to hear. “We were properly embraced by everyone in New Zealand,” Vickers told me. “I made friends, nothing to do with the show, that are now some of my closest friends in the world. So it was a really special time.”
Vickers further endears himself by pointing out that season two was less collegial, outside of work hours: “In New Zealand we would go to work together and then we’d all go out to dinner together because we only kind of knew each other. In England it’s fundamentally different because while the work is the same, you go home to your lives, I guess both have their positives.”
I suppose he has a point.
English actor Sophia Nomvete, who plays Dwarf Princess Disa, and who has spoken far and wide of her love for New Zealand, said it was bittersweet to leave. “New Zealand was a real journey for me, personally,” Nomvete told me. “It really held me up in a way that I never knew a country could. I’m like, currently designing Māori tattoos for myself. It hit me in a way that I’ve not experienced before. I have so, so much love for that country, as does my family. So I’m so grateful that we started [there], it just couldn’t have been anywhere else. I love it.”
But again, like much of the English cast, she understandably couldn’t deny the benefits of working where she lives. “Of course it is lovely to be home as well. I feel quite blessed that we had that incredible time. That New Zealand fire is at the heart of this story and for me at this time in my life. I get to carry that home with family and friends. I just think it’s a win-win all around, we were really lucky to have both sides.”
England-born American actor Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Númenórean Queen Regent Míriel) had more New Zealand experience than more, reflected on working the two “life changing projects” she made on our shores. “The first time I was there was 10 years ago with Spartacus. At that time I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I’ll never get to work here again’. I had such an incredible time,” she said. “Then lo and behold, I get this second incredible experience with a lot of the same people, a lot of the same crew, familiar faces. So it was very bittersweet to transition.”
Welsh actor Trystan Gravelle, who plays Númenórean political player Pharazôn, felt very at home here. “New Zealand blew my mind when I was there. I found it very, very similar to the UK. Huge swathes of the country untouched and unspoiled and stuff. So it was like a home from home from home.” Because of that, he said leaving the country was quite poignant. “I just had such a lovely time in New Zealand, I thought well, when am I going to go there again?”
But English actor Charles Edwards (Elven smith Celebrimbor), who also co-starred with Rebecca Gibney in the Central Otago vineyard dramedy Under the Vines, appears to have had his fill of the antipodes for now. “I mean in terms of being closer to home, that’s always a plus,” he admitted. “With family to consider and all that, the practicalities of such a move were beneficial to those who live there.”
Perhaps sensing he has let me down, Edwards then added: “We miss New Zealand very much. Some of that obviously can’t compare anywhere in the world, the shots that they get, but once you get in a studio, you could be anywhere. The feeling of goodwill and fun in the crew both [in London] and in New Zealand is very similar.”
In perhaps the most measured take, London-based Welsh actor Lloyd Owen, who plays Númenórean seafarer Elendil, stressed that the unique circumstances of the season one shoot helped bring the cast together. “There was something very particular about New Zealand,” said Owen. “Obviously it was during the Covid pandemic, so we bonded hugely. Inevitably, once you get home, everyone just goes home to their own places. New Zealand really set us up well as a cast. That bond that we’ve created is because of that New Zealand experience and that will never go away.”
He’s right, there is something very particular about New Zealand.
I also spoke to Rings of Power co-showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne in San Diego, and posed them the same question about the production leaving New Zealand for the UK. “Living in New Zealand when we did through Covid, making season one of this incredibly ambitious show was a crazy and amazing and challenging life experience in so many ways,” said McKay. “Speaking for myself, I made friends for life in New Zealand. My wife gave birth in New Zealand. We loved it there, but ultimately, [moving to England] was a decision above our pay grade.”
While McKay said the show has creatively benefitted from having different environments to explore, Payne quickly added that New Zealand’s time in this particular spotlight isn’t over yet. “We also shot dozens of hours of aerial photography in New Zealand,” he said. “So it’ll be a part of Middle Earth for many years to come.”
Damn right.
Watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video.