Lord Of The Rings Star Bernard Hill Will Have No Part Of The Rings Of Power
It was never any secret that Amazon's "The Rings of Power" was only loosely based on J.R.R. Tolkien's work, with the source material only coming from novels "The Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit," as well as the appendices. "We do not have the rights to 'The Silmarillion,' 'Unfinished Tales,' 'The History of Middle-earth,' or any of those other books," showrunner J.D. Payne told Vanity Fair before the series debuted. With "The Rings of Power" purportedly taking place during the Second Age of Middle-earth — a period of time covered in the books the series doesn't have the rights to — fans have been divided about whether the series is a faithful adaptation of Tolkien's stories.
"I've read the books and seen the movies and still enjoyed it," u/jtflv wrote on Reddit's "The Rings of Power" subreddit. U/gonzaloetjo agreed, writing "I'm usually a hard critic of things, I hated almost any new material of Star Wars for instance. But with this? I liked it a lot, and I've probably read more Tolkien than anything else." Even several actors from the films were willing to give the series the benefit, with Sean Astin, who played Samwise Gamgee in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, telling IGN "I've been saying the whole time, they're gonna do it right. There's no way Amazon is gonna pay almost a billion dollars for a franchise just to screw it up."
But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and one actor from the original trilogy wants no part in "The Rings of Power."
Hill doesn't think it compares to The Lord of the Rings
To many casual fans, Bernard Hill is best remembered for his role as the stalwart Captain Smith in the blockbuster "Titanic," though he also played King Theoden in Peter Jackson's epic "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. But when it comes to the franchise that "The Lord of the Rings" has become since the original trilogy, Hill wishes they'd left it alone and admits he won't be watching "The Rings of Power." "No, not interested," he told Metro. "It's a money-making venture and I'm not interested in watching that or being in it. Good luck to them and all that stuff but it's not like the real thing."
This attitude, coming from a man who has starred in some of the top-grossing films of all time, might be baffling to some, but it's obvious he has some regrets. While he's best known to many for his television and film roles, he began his acting career in theater, and it's where he now focuses his energy. In an interview with Concrete, he admitted that "I wish I'd stayed doing [theater] instead of moving off into TV which is where the money was, and moving off into films which is where even more money was."
"The Rings of Power" may not be able to count Hill as a fan, but it's doubtful that will deter any viewers as they eagerly await Season 2.