Morfydd Clark Lands Young Galadriel Role In Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series
‘His Dark Materials’ star Morfydd Clark is set to trade one fantasy world for another, as she lands the part of young Galadriel in Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ series the streaming service has announced.
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, the series, from showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The Second Age is in a time when the dwarves are flourishing in Khazad-dûm (later known as Moria) beneath the Misty Mountains, Elrond founded Rivendell, and the rings of power are created by the elves, along with The One Ring, created by Sauron.
If you know about Tolkien’s work and the history of Middle Earth, you will understand how Galadriel could be in the new series despite being set thousands of years before ‘The Hobbit’ & ‘Lord Of The Rings’. Like Elrond, Galadriel is an elf, and those guys have been around for a really long time! She was born in the Valinor during the Years of the Trees before the First Age had even begun, so the description of her as “young Galadriel” is a bit of a stretch… “younger” than we’ve seen before (as played by Cate Blanchett in the movies) would be rather more accurate.
During the Second Age, Galadriel and her husband, Celeborn, established the realm of Eregion near to the Misty Mountains and established trade with the Dwarves. They later leave the realm in the hands of their relative Celebrimbor as they become Lord and Lady of Lothlórien. Celebrimbor and Galadriel are central figures in the creation of the rings of power during this age.
Along with starring as Sister Clara in ‘His Dark Materials’, Morfydd Clark can next be seen in Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s ‘Dracula’ where she takes the role of Mina Harker. She has also appeared in tv dramas such as ‘Patrick Melrose’, ‘The City and the City’ and ‘The Alienist’. She is set to join previously announced cast members Joseph Mawle (‘Game of Thrones’ Benjen Stark) and Markella Kavenagh (‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, ‘Romper Stomper’). Will Poulter, who was also previously announced, had to step away from middle earth due to scheduling conflicts and will no longer be in the series.
At the moment, the plot details for ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ series are scarce. From the little bits of information teased by the official Twitter account, it looks like it will not only feature mainland Middle-earth, but also the island of Númenor. This would be a location which has not been seen before on screen, mainly due to it not existing in the Third Age when the films were set. It was sunk beneath the waves by “The Valar” (basically the Gods of Middle-Earth) after the Númenóreans disobeyed them when the king was corrupted by Sauron. It is also the place from which Aragorn’s bloodline descends.
J.A. Bayona (‘The Orphanage’) will direct the first two episodes and also serve as executive producer, alongside his partner, Belén Atienza, Payne and McKay. Other Executive Producers are Lindsey Weber (’10 Cloverfield Lane’), Bruce Richmond (‘Game of Thrones’), Gene Kelly (‘Boardwalk Empire’), Sharon Tal Yguado, Gennifer Hutchison (‘Breaking Bad’), Jason Cahill (‘The Sopranos’), and Justin Doble (‘Stranger Things’).
We don’t know exactly when the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ tv series will land on Amazon, but we do know it was picked up with a massive multi-season commitment. The show will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment. We’ll bring you more as we get it.
