Fans of classical fantasy haven’t been able to revisit J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe in live-action form since 2014, when the last Hobbit film was released. Now though, Amazon's full-length television series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, set in Middle-earth’s Second Age (thousands of years before the adventures of Frodo and the Fellowship), is slated to premiere September 2. And this show comes with a whole new swath of characters we’ve yet to meet!
The Rings of Power will also take us to lands never explored before, including the Elven realms of Lindon and Eregion, the Dwarven realm Khazad-d?m, the Southlands, the Northernmost Wastes, the Sundering Seas, and the island kingdom of Númenór. The cast is massive and a little tricky to keep up with, for those trying to get a head-start on the series' premiere, so we went ahead and rounded up every confirmed character and actor that’ll be playing a role, as well as a few players from the movies who've confirmed that they're not coming back.
Keep in mind that not every performer's part has been clarified yet, but most have been so read on for every actor and character we know about in the The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Joseph Mawle as the Villain
Joseph Mawle is probably best known for his recurring role on Game of Thrones as Benjen Stark, uncle to the Stark children and brother to Sean Bean’s Ned Stark. He’s also had roles in Sense8, Birdsong, 2015’s In the Heart of the Sea, and in the current MotherFatherSon series.
It’s been reported that Mawle is playing the role of a villain in The Lord of the Rings. Considering Amazon’s series is set during the Second Age, that could mean a lot of things. The Second Age ends with the defeat of Sauron’s armies at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, so it’s entirely possible that Sauron may play a role. If Amazon is aiming for a smaller scale villain, the Second Age was also when the Ringwraiths were created, and encapsulates the War of the Rings between Sauron and the Elves. If that’s all a bit confusing, just read our explainer on Middle-earth’s Second Age and what it means for Amazon’s show.
Why does the Second Age matter in Middle-Earth lore? Check out the video below.
Robert Aramayo as Elrond
Aramayo is best known for playing a young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, via flashback. He also plays Sgt. Major Atkins in The King's Man. Mindhunter fans will recognize him as serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley.
Aramayo will be playing young Elrond who will "rise to prominence" in the mystical capital of Lindon. Fans will know Elrond as the Elven leader who Hugo Weaving played in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. In The Rings of Power, Elrond will be a politically ambitious future ruler, one mentored by High King Gil-galad.
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel
Clark's credits include The Personal History of David Copperfield, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Crawl.
Clark will play a younger version of Galadriel, queen of the elves, who went on to aid the Fellowship after their deadly journey through the mines of Moria. In the previous Peter Jackson film trilogies Galadriel was played by Cate Blanchett.
Galadriel is from Valinor and is one of the oldest elves around - older than the moon, even. At this point in the story she’s already been part of the biggest moments of history, though she does not yet have the power of foresight. Or any knowledge, for that matter, of how these newly forged rings of power will corrupt both mankind and elves.
Benjamin Walker as High King Gil-galad
Walker is arguably most known in geek film circles for playing Abraham Lincoln in, you guessed it, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. He also played super-powered empath Erik Gelden in Jessica Jones season three.
Walker will be playing High King Gil-galad. Gil-galad was the last High King of the ?oldor in Middle-earth, formed the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, and went to war with Sauron. His particular branch of elves can be traced back to Valinor, but when presented with an opportunity to return to that land Gil-galad chooses to stay and hold out hope that Middle-earth can be saved.
Gil-galad is a quintessential leader, ruling by example, with grace, and offering structure and advice to others - but also giving them freedom to find their own destinies (especially in his relationship with Elrond).
Will Fletcher as Finrod
Actor Will Fletcher is playing Finrod, Galadriel's oldest brother.
Ismael Cruz Cordova as Arondir
Cordova is a Puerto Rican actor, with credits including Miss Bala, The Catch, and the Twi'lek Qin in Disney Plus' The Mandalorian.
Córdova is playing a Silvan elf named Arondir, who is one of the new characters created for the series. Arondir is involved in a forbidden relationship with a human healer named Bronwyn, played by Nazanin Boniadi. Tasked with watching over the people of the Southlands, Arondir is a soldier class of elf and a little bit of an outsider in terms of his sensibilities - much like Bronwyn, apparently
Nazanin Boniadi as Bronwyn
Nazanin Boniadi, a British actor of Iranian heritage, is best known for her roles on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, the Showtime spy thriller series Homeland, and for playing Zahra Kashani in the action film Hotel Mumbai.
Bronwyn is a single Southands mother and healer who has a village apothecary. She will have a love affair with the elf Arondir.
Tyroe Muhafidin as Theo
Australian actor Tyroe Muhafidin plays Theo, Bronwyn's son.
Megan Richards as Poppy Proudfellow and Markella Kavenagh as Elanor 'Nori' Brandyfoot
Nori (above) and Poppy (below) are Harfoots, which are a nomadic community with lineage ties to Hobbits (and physical similarities) that travels throughout the seasons. Every family has a cart as they trek, essentially bringing their homes with them during their journeys. The safety of their community is the most important thing as they look for a place to settle and put down roots, similar to how Hobbits have The Shire.
Dylan Smith as Largo Brandyfoot
Canadian actor Dylan Smith's credits include EastEnders, TNT's I Am the Night, and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
Smith plays Largo Brandyfoot, Nori's father.
Sara Zwangobani as Marigold Brandyfoot
Sara Zwangobani is known for Australian soap Home and Away and Lifetime's Monarch Cove.
Zwangobani plays Marigold Brandyfoot, Nori's mother.
Sir Lenny Henry as Sadoc Burrows
Henry is a British actor, perhaps most known for playing the shrunken head in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He's also starring in the upcoming Witcher: Blood Origin series. His other credits include Broadchurch, The Pirates clay animation film, and The Syndicate.
Henry stars as Sadoc Burrows, a Harfoot elder.
Daniel Weyman as The Stranger
Daniel Weyman (Gentleman Jack, Foyle's War) will play a character known only as The Stranger. Our only real sense of Weyman's character comes from a character poster that shows him gripping an apple. There are many theories abound regarding who the Stranger is: from Sauron to Gandalf to a different (new) wizard to even the God of Tolkien's world itself, Eru Ilúvatar.
Charlie Vickers as Halbrand
Charlie Vickers is an up-and-coming actor who has appeared in various film and television productions, including Medici: Masters of Florence and Palm Beach.
Vickers is playing a new character called Halbrand in The Lords of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He is described as being a "fugitive from his own past" who meets Galadriel on the storm-swept Sundering Seas at the beginning of the series. An original character to the story, Habrand is human, though one built on the essence of Tolkein, sharing similarities to other other characters in the canon.
Maxim Baldry as Isildur
Baldry is a British actor, with credits including Strike Back, Mr. Bean's Holiday, and Doctor Who.
Fans will know Isildur as as founder of Gondor and an ancestor of Aragorn (the one who cut the Ring of Power from Sauron's hand and wielded it until his own doom). As a Númenórean (of the isle of Númenor), young Isildur is an aspiring sailor, a sea cadet who longs to do something else with his life.
Ema Horvath is Earien
Horvath's credits include The Mortuary Collection, What Lies Below, Don't Look Deeper, and more.
Horvath plays Earien, daughter of Elendil (the king who would later be slayed by Sauron in the War of the Last Alliance) , and a sister to Isildur. She is an aspiring architect.
Lloyd Owen is Elendil
Owen is a British actor, with credits including Apollo 18, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, and perhaps most interestingly for IGN readers, the calamitous corporate executive Ted Faro in Horizon Zero Dawn.
Previous to becoming king, we find Elendil as a sea captain and mariner in Númenor, a place that's very water-focused. His family is known throughout the island nation but they are not in high standing. Yet.
Owain Arthur as Prince Durin IV
Owain Arthur's is a Welsh actor who has appeared in several British TV shows, though he also portrayed a security guard by the name of Castello in The One and Only Ivan.
Arthur is playing Prince Durin IV, a dwarven noble overseeing the bustling subterranean realm of Khazad-d?m during that kingdom's golden era of prosperity. Not the tomb we are used to seeing in The Fellowship of the Rings, Khazad-d?m is filled with riches, representing a high seat of power and authority in Middle-earth.
Sophia Nomvete as Disa
Sophia Nomvete is a performer who has multiple musical theater credits to her name, including productions of The Color Purple, Footloose, and Fame.
Nomvete portrays dwarven princess Disa, the wife to Prince Durin IV and a force of nature in her own right. A powerhouse keeper of many secrets and many superpowers, Disa is the first female dwarf ever to appear onscreen.
Peter Mullan as King Durin III
Mullan is a Scottish actor known for his role as Syd in Children of Men, Ted Narracott in War Horse, and Ridgeway in Underground Railroad. He also played James Delos in HBO's Westworld and Jacob Snell in Ozark.
Durin III is king of the Dwarven city of Khazad-d?m and Prince Durin IV's father.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Queen Regent Miriel
Addai-Robinson's credits include Power, Spartacus, The CW's Arrow series (where she played Amanda Waller), Chicago Med, and other television series and films since 2002. It's currently unknown what role she'll be playing in Rings of Power.
Miriel is Queen Regent of the island of Númenor, which means she's not fully yet a queen. A thoughtful woman, and someone who is trying to do right by her people, Miriel does her best to make good decisions and keep the peace.
Trystan Gravelle as Pharaz?n
Gravelle is a Welsh actor, with credits including 2017's Beast, Sky's A Discovery of Witches, and 2011's Anonymous. It's unknown what role he'll be playing in Rings of Power.
Pharaz?n is Miriel's cousin and advisor. Though their separate families butt heads over different world views, Pharaz?n is one of the few people Miriel trusts. Pharaz?n feels burdoned by his own mortality and is consumed with the idea of "legacy."
Leon Wadham as Kemen
Leon Wadham plays Kemen, Pharaz?n's son.
Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor
Edwards is a British actor known for playing Princess Elizabeth's secretary Martin Charteris in The Crown. His other credits include a small role in Batman Begins, HBO's The Witches, and Downton Abbey.
Edwards is playing the elf Celebrimbor, a ?oldorin prince who, despite wanting the different races to work together, has ulterior motives.
Simon Merrells as Trevyn
Merrells is a British actor, with credits including History Channel's Knightfall, Spartacus' Marcus Crassus, and Amazon's Good Omens.
Merrells' character is named Trevyn but that's all we know at this time.
Kip Chapman as Selin
Champan, known for 2013's Top of the Lake, is rumored to be playing a man named Selin.
Augustus Prew
Prew's credits include Kick-Ass 2, The Morning Show, the Borgias, and others.
Alex Tarrant
Tarrant's credits include Vegas, SeaChange, and NCIS, Hawai'i
Thusitha Jayasundera
Jayasundera is a Sri Lankan actor, with credits including Jackie Chan's The Foreigner, Humans, and Broadchurch.
Other actors
Other cast members of Rings of Power include: Amelie Child Villiers, Geoff Morrell, Fabian McCallum, Maxine Cunliffe, Peter Tait, Ian Blackburn, Anthony Crum.
Who We Know WON'T Be Part of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings
Andy Serkis as Gollum
The man behind many digital faces won’t be reprising his role as Gollum/Smeagol. For one, Smeagol was born in the Third Age, well after the period of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series. Serkis himself has been pretty frank about not appearing in the new series, and he cites a good reason.
"Oh boy, listen, I mean ... I don't think so," Serkis told CinemaBlend. "And if I was anyone making those, they're obviously going to want to start fresh and create something brand new. And that's how it should be."
Serkis continued his thoughts by citing The Jungle Book and its various reinterpretations (including the version he directed).
"That's what you do with great, classic pieces of work," Serkis said. "Like [The Jungle Book]. It bears repetition, and it bears reinterpretation. And I think it needs a fresh pair of ears and eyes, and I'm sure that's the way they'll go."
Orlando Bloom as Legolas
Orlando Bloom went on record earlier in 2019, stating that he hadn’t had any conversations about appearing in Amazon's show.
"I don't know how they're going to approach it, I haven't had any conversations about that," Bloom said, but pointed out that he's probably done everything there is to do with Legolas as part of Peter Jackson's films. "I like to think of myself as ageless, but I don’t know where I would fit in that world. If you're saying as Legolas, they probably have a 19-year-old kid who’s ready to go and he’ll do a great job."
Logistically, this is another tough one. J.R.R. Tolkien never gave concrete details on Legolas’ age, but educated guesses from the fan community estimate he’s more than 5000 years old by around the time of The Fellowship of the Ring. That puts his birth somewhere around the end of the Second Age at the earliest. He’s never mentioned during the Last Alliance of elves and men either, so don’t expect him to play even a tertiary role.
Peter Jackson Isn’t Involved
Jackson, who directed all three original Lord of the Rings films and all three Hobbit films, told French publication Allocine that he won’t be involved with Amazon’s show.
“I’m not involved at all in the Lord of the Rings series," Jackson said. "I understand how my name could come up, but there is nothing happening with me on this project."
Will Poulter
Though he was originally brought on to play an unidentified role, Poulter confirmed to NME that a scheduling conflict made it impossible to continue. Poulter's credits include Netflix's Bandersnatch, Midsommar, and Maze Runner.
Who's RUMORED to Be Part of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings
A Young Aragorn
Previous rumors indicated that a young Aragorn might factor into Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, but unless they’re using him as a framing device, we can assume he won’t make an appearance. The rumor came from a fan outlet known as The One Ring, which has been reliable in the past, but this one just doesn’t check out.
Aragorn was also born well into the Third Age, and though he’s lived a life far longer than a normal human (thanks, Dunedain blood!), you can’t simply have him appear a couple thousand years before he was actually alive.
You can read more details about The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power here, or check out how the crew made the opening credits sequence using zero CGI.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/resident Gollum for IGN.