How The Lord Of The Rings Actors Really Feel About The Rings Of Power

Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is one of the most eagerly anticipated shows of recent times. Possibly the most expensive television series ever made, it takes place thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels, which means that it boasts an entirely new cast of characters and actors; those involved in Peter Jackson's celebrated "The Lord Of the Rings" film trilogy are not involved in this new adaptation.

That doesn't mean, however, that those who were previously part of the fantasy world of Middle-earth have had nothing to say about the new series. Actors who played a part in Jackson's blockbuster live-action movies have obviously been asked about the project while taking part in interviews or speaking at events, as the franchise has been such a big part of their lives.

There have been a variety of interesting responses, and encouragingly, almost all of them are positive. Many of the previous cast have been hopeful and excited about "The Rings of Power," while a few have been more cautious. Here's everything they've had to say so far.

Elijah Wood was essentially the face of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" — he was, after all, the actor playing Hobbit Frodo Baggins. Tasked with carrying the One Ring and ultimately destroying it, it was Frodo's actions that would decide the fate of Middle-earth and determine whether Sauron would succeed in his scheme to destroy the realms of men, elves, and dwarves. Wood would go on to reprise his role briefly for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," making "The Rings of Power" the only onscreen iteration of the series over the last two decades that he hasn't been involved in.

The actor hasn't really had any complaints about the show, but he did have one minor issue with the name Amazon has chosen for the series. Speaking with Empire Magazine (via Fandom), Wood explained that he thought it was confusing to call it "The Lord of the Rings" because of when the story takes place. "I find it very bizarre that they're calling it 'Lord of the Rings' as a shorthand because it's not 'Lord of the Rings,'" he said. "It takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth."

In 2020, Wood made a similar remark when discussing the series as it was in development, explaining, "From what I understand, the material they are working on exists chronologically further back in history in the lore of 'Lord of the Rings' or Middle-earth than any characters represented in 'Lord of the Rings.'" However, that didn't stop him from being excited about the show or being against appearing in some way. "If there was a world where that made sense and was organic to what they're doing, then yes," he told IndieWire. "Look, any excuse to get to go to New Zealand to work on something, I am absolutely there."

Fans of "The Lord of the Rings" will know Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, the Gondorian king who joins the Fellowship of the Ring and later fights against Saruman's forces in Rohan and defends Gondor from an attack by Sauron. The role launched him to mainstream popularity, but he wasn't initially the first choice. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, actor Stuart Townsend revealed that he had trained for months after being cast but was fired a day before filming started. Mortensen was quickly flown in to replace him, an experience that he told the Irish Times was awkward.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Mortensen spoke about how "The Lord of the Rings" impacted his life and gave him the opportunity to make a lot of friends he's still in contact with. When discussing the new series and finding out it's being made by Amazon, he replied, "Oh, right. Yeah, I'll watch that." During the same interview, he asked when it would be set and what material they would be using for the story. After being told it was set thousands of years before the trilogy, he replied, "Oh, that's cool. Yeah, It'll be fun to see."

The role of Peregrin "Pippin" Took was played by Scottish actor Billy Boyd in Peter Jackson's film trilogy. As one of the four hobbit protagonists, he joined the Fellowship of the Ring and eventually found his way to Gondor with Gandalf. The actor formed a strong bond with his co-stars and has since started a podcast called "The Friendship Onion" with his "Lord of the Rings" co-star Dominic Monaghan. An experienced musician who has a band called Beecake, he returned to the franchise to perform the song "The Last Goodbye" for " The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies."

In an interview with Salon, Boyd talked about how he was looking forward to watching "The Rings of Power" as a fan rather than someone who was directly involved in its creation. "I'm excited to watch Middle-earth and not be watching it going, "Oh, I remember that day. I had the sore leg," and that kind of thing," he explained. "To be able to just sit and watch a Middle-earth story."

Later in the same article, the actor went on to discuss the way it will be exciting to see how the television series tackles different material and has a new approach to Middle-earth. "Well, and exciting to see what they do, because obviously we were lucky enough that we had the three books of Tolkien," he pointed out. "Tolkien devoted his life to those books, not in a small way. He created languages. He drew the maps before he wrote any story. And then he created this incredible, incredible universe and story and characters that we were lucky enough to play."

Australian actor John Noble is probably best known for his role as Denethor in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, although he has had other widely seen roles in the likes of "Fringe" and "Elementary" as well as playing Scarecrow in several DC adaptations. In the world of Middle-earth he was the Steward of Gondor, ruling in the absence of the King of Gondor. His sons, Faramir and Boromir, also play an important role in the story. Denethor eventually falls to despair when the forces of Mordor attack Gondor.

In a conversation on the Collider Podcast, Noble was asked about the television series and whether Denethor should appear in some capacity. His response was a definitive no, as he didn't want to tarnish the memory of his experience in the trilogy or ruin his character. "If it's anything that is going to blur that memory," he said. "You know you go through life and do certain things that are outstanding [and] I don't want to do that again." However, he also feels like the people behind the television series will want to do their own thing and make it separate from what has come before.

Elrond is a respected and powerful figure in Middle-earth, and the job of portraying him in Peter Jackson's trilogy went to Hugo Weaving. The actor had a significant role in the first movie and made brief appearances in the two sequels, as he is seen discussing his daughter's future and bringing Aragorn's reforged sword Andúril to him. Despite his success in several high-profile parts, Weaving has a habit of not returning to franchises years after his initial participation. His role in the MCU as Red Skull was recast for "Avengers: Endgame" after he refused to reprise the part from "Captain America: The First Avenger"; he also didn't return to the "Matrix" franchise for "The Matrix Resurrections."

When asked by Variety about whether he would want to return to his role as Elrond in "The Rings of Power," the actor gave a rather curt answer. From his response, it appears Weaving had enough of the franchise the first time around. "'Matrix' might have happened," he said. "But 'Lord of the Rings,' no, I would never — I'm not interested in that at all. Look, I loved being in New Zealand with all those great people, and it was like going back to a family but actually, to be honest, I think everyone had more than enough of it."