‘The Rings of Power’: Galadriel Actor Morfydd Clark Thought She’d Be Cast as a Hobbit
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before the main events of J. R. R. Tolkien’s novels. However, there are a few familiar characters in the Amazon series, including Galadriel, played by Morfydd Clark. It’s an enormous task to take on the character, previously played by Cate Blanchett. According to Clark, she thought she would be playing a Hobbit instead of Galadriel in The Rings of Power.
Morfydd Clark didn’t know she was auditioning for ‘Lord of the Rings’
The Rings of Power is a highly-anticipated series since it brings viewers back to Middle Earth. Not much was known about the series initially, and many of the actors reportedly didn’t know much about it until they were cast. In an interview with AnOther, Clark says she didn’t know what she was auditioning for when she auditioned for the series.
“I swear people had been talking about it for a long time, even when I was still at drama school,” Clark says. “And then, years later, I got an audition. It was all quite vague – they just said they wanted actors who had experience in Shakespearean language – that was all the info we got.”
“I was in the waiting room, and one of the people sitting next to me asked if I knew what this was for, and I said no, and she said it was for The Lord of the Rings,” Clark added. “I had to go to the toilet to have a word with myself. I was like, it’s OK, you’ve been prepping for this for your whole life. I went in and did it, and was auditioning for quite a while, and then, eventually, I was in New Zealand.”
Morfydd Clark did not expect to be playing Galadriel in ‘The Rings of Power’
Galadriel is one of the central characters in The Rings of Power. She is on a quest to defeat Sauron before he returns and begins another war. Galadriel’s quest is only a part of the massive plot of this series. Another subplot includes the Harfoots, a group of migrating hobbits. In an interview with Independent, Clark says she thought she’d be cast as a hobbit because she thought her appearance was too harsh.
“I much more thought that I’d be a hobbit than an elf,” she shares. “I think I have a slightly unnerving face. I can look quite extreme and a bit evil. Which I guess is slightly elfish, maybe!”
Clark was a big fan of Middle Earth before joining the Amazon series
Not every actor who joins Middle Earth knows the source material. However, Clark does have experience with Tolkien’s work and says love for the author’s work runs in her family. Playing Galadriel in The Rings of Power could require extensive knowledge of the material, and Clark appears to have it.
“I’ve always loved fantasy,” Clark told AnOther. “My dad read The Hobbit to me in year six because he knew the films coming out, and I just loved them. And we always used to listen to the BBC Radio [4] version, and my dad would be like, ‘you know the man playing Frodo in this [Ian Holm]? He plays Bilbo in the film.’ So I had it coming at me from lots of angles.”
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
