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Another season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has concluded, but somehow it feels like there’s still a lot left to explore in the expansive world that JRR Tolkien created decades ago. If characters like Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Aragorn, Samwise Gamgee and Arwen made our 2000s memorable, The Rings of Power (TROP), created by JD Payne and Patrick McKay, takes us on a journey through the mucky, bumpy and dimly lit paths of Middle-earth. Based on Tolkien’s detailed history of Middle-earth — primarily from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings — TROP’s narrative unfolds thousands of years before the events of the original LOTR novel.
While the show introduced several new characters to Middle-earth, the ones that won the most hearts were the Harfoots Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards). Even as Nori is an adventurer drawn to the unknown, Poppy is the voice of reason, a guiding presence whenever Nori’s curiosity pulls her too close to danger. Yet, they are each other’s source of comfort and joy.
Though Markella Kavenagh has worked on shows like Bad Behaviour, The Gloaming, The Cry, and Romper Stomper, TROP stands apart from anything she’s done before. Not only that, she had to undergo extensive transformation for the role. In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express in Singapore, Markella opened up about what prompted her to audition for the role and what convinced her to take on the project. “The books and Tolkien mean so much to my dad, and honestly, that’s what made me so excited to audition. It was something he really cared about. At the same time, I also love the books and the LOTR films. Even just the opportunity to audition was incredible, and I didn’t want to take it for granted,” she shared.
“When I got a callback, I genuinely thought that would be it. I was like, ‘you know what, at least in my heart of hearts, I’ll have had that experience.’ But when I received the part, it was truly a dream come true,” she added, mentioning that she received two callbacks before securing the role of Nori.
Though TROP has a darker tone compared to the LOTR films, as it’s set in the more turbulent Second Age, Poppy is a beacon of light in the series, always there for her loved ones, especially Nori. Reflecting on her experience working on the show, Megan Richards said, “I’ve never experienced anything like this before, which was kind of the unexpected part. What I love is playing the absolute truth of a character. When the writing is great, it expands, and the character becomes multi-dimensional. The wonderful thing is that it felt like the showrunners always knew Poppy’s voice from the very beginning. It felt very strong to me, and it just kind of flowed.”
Also starring Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, Charles Edwards, Robert Aramayo, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle and Tyroe Muhafidin, the first two seasons of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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