Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series Adds TWENTY New Cast Members – The Mary Sue

Amazons Lord of the Ringsseries just announced their second wave of casting and we are excited by the twenty (yes, 20!) new additions to the epic series set in Middle Earths second age. These actors join the first group announced in January of this year. With alumni from beloved series likes Spartacus and Westworld, the list is seriously impressive, and it also includes some new faces you havent heard of.

Firstly, the folks we know: At the top of the list is Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who I absolutely adored in Starzs Spartacus series and who also played Amanda Waller on Arrow. Another Spartacus alum, Simon Merrells, who played Ceasar on the series, is also joining the cast. Sir Lenny Henry is a well-established British actor and comedian who co-founded Comic Relief and was seen in Broadchurch andHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Peter Mullan, who has impressed genre audience on Westworld and more recently on Netflixs Cursed is also joining the cast, and I cant think of a better actor to play a corrupt king of men, though Im just guessing there.

Other established names joining the cast are: Maxim Baldry (Years and Years), Maxine Cunliffe (Power Rangers Megaforce), Trystan Gravelle (A Discovery of Witches), Thusitha Jayasundera (Broadchurch), Fabian McCallum (You, Me & The Apocalypse), Geoff Morrell (Grassroots), Lloyd Owen (Apollo 18), Augustus Prew (The Morning Show), Peter Tait (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, as an Orc), Alex Tarrant (The Other Side of Heaven 2: Fire of Faith), Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and Sara Zwangobani (Home and Away)

The new batch also includes several New Zealands actors and relative newcomers for American audiences: Ian Blackburn, Leon Wadham, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crumwho we will see in Amazons upcoming series The Wilds.

What I love about this casting list isnt just that its clearly a group of talented actors, but that it is inclusive and diverse. We have actors who provide a wonderfully wide range of representation, which is something we really didnt get in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films.

The series will be set in Middle Earths second age, when Sauron was still hanging around with mortals pretending to be just a nice friend, and when the Island of Nmenor hadnt yet been cast into the sea (again, thanks to corruption from Sauron). So yes, theres totally a chance one of the announced actors is playing hot Sauron. This series promises to be an epic (and maybe even more adult?) story, and we cant wait to return to Middle Earth.

(via Entertainment Weekly, image: New Line Cinema)

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Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series Adds TWENTY New Cast Members - The Mary Sue