Galadriel Actress Morfydd Clark Describes The Bling She Got To Wear For Amazon's Rings Of Power - Exclusive
Galadriel has always been an awe-inspiring character within J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. During "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," she is an elder stateswoman who wields an Elven Ring, uses a magic mirror, leads an Elven kingdom, and openly strives with Sauron. Yet the big test for this impressive heroine comes when she's offered a tiny golden trinket by a quiet little Hobbit. While she passes this test of temptation, the glimpse through her wise, somber appearance harkens back to an earlier time, when she was more headstrong and less experienced yet clearly still filled with ambition and fire.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is exploring this earlier phase of Galadriel's life through its Second Age setting. When we first meet Galadriel, she's an Elf hellbent on a mission. A tempest in her drives her forward with the passion and vigor not of a tempered politician but of an impulsive warrior. Even in this early time, though, there are elements about Galadriel that remain the same. Her desire for power and to be the woman in charge is clearly present at all times, as is her understanding that Sauron is a huge problem.
One quiet yet important connecting point also has to do with her hair. Galadriel's hair is so famous that there's an entire scene in "The Fellowship of the Ring" devoted to Gimli making the shocking request for a single strand of her hair — and getting three instead. Her half-uncle, Fëanor, asks for her hair to inspire and help with his crafting, too, even though she says no on that occasion.
Looper recently sat down with Galadriel actress Morfydd Clark and talked about her character's hair, its importance, and what they've done to reflect that (quite literally) in the show.
Morfydd Clark wears gold-plated and silver-plated hair
"The Silmarillion" talks about Galadriel's hair not just as Elvish or beautiful — it's specifically and uniquely incredible. The text says, "Her hair was lit with gold as though it had caught in a mesh the radiance of Laurelin." Laurelin is one of the Two Trees that light up Valinor before the sun and moon are created (with the former literally coming from one of Laurelin's golden fruits).
When we interviewed Morfydd Clark right before the first season of the show premiered, we asked her about the question of Galadriel's hair and if the creatives behind the show had made an effort to represent it on screen. Her answer was as lavish as one could expect with Prime Video's well-funded project.
"Yes. Basically, the hair was a massive talking point amongst makeup, the directors, and me, and what we settled on was actually the hair that we use has strands of gold-plated and silver-plated hair within it. So her hair is otherworldly, and at different times there's more levels of gold and silver within her hair or less."
So while others are donning Hobbit feet and Dwarven prosthetics, Morfydd Clark is literally having gold and silver woven into her hair. It's a one-of-a-kind experience that Clark is very aware of, and she said as much: "That was really cool. That was a detail that I was like, 'You're going to put gold and silver in her hair?! What?' Just really cool." We agree, Morfydd. We agree.
New episodes of "The Rings of Power" drop in weekly installments every Friday on Prime Video.