When you think of hobbits, you think of Bilbo Baggins, Frodo and Sam from the Lord of the Rings films. In The Rings of Power, the sprawling series that takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, there are no hobbits. Instead, the show introduces hobbit ancestors, Harfoots. Between Markella Kavenagh's Nori Brandyfoot, Megan Richards' Poppy Proudfellow and Sara Zwangobani's Marigold Brandyfoot, there has been a strong showing of the nomadic characters who have become fan-favourites over the course of eight episodes.
In an exclusive interview, Megan, Markella and Sara opened up about bringing the Harfoots to life in The Rings of Power.
What Was That One Moment On Set While Filming For The Rings Of Power That Left You Awestruck?
Megan: For me, it was the first time I visited the set. I wasn't filming but we had a set visit and all of our background artists were in the middle of doing a sequence that they were rehearsing with our movement director Lara. And so I got to walk into these woods that were decorated as a Harfoot encampment and just seeing all of the background artists working and being Harfoots and going through their scenes on a live set was beautiful. I love being immersed in worlds and that's when I really felt wow that's Middle-earth.
Sara: It was the first moments on set but also when I first arrived in New Zealand and I went into Kate Holly who was our designer, her wonderful museum for all things Rings of Power and Tolkien. I remember walking around and seeing all the visions she had for each of our different worlds. And also some of the things that were discarded which were brilliant ideas in themselves and she was like “no no this isn't good enough” and kept developing things like the graffiti in Numenor. She literally went into working out what the graffiti would look like and I remember watching that and just going wow this is incredible. That was definitely a moment for me.
Markella: Sometimes the showrunners and the rest of the cast were really generous in allowing us to visit each other's sets. There was a time when I went to visit Charlie Vickers and Myford Clark on a raft and we had to take a separate raft to go onto the water and get onto the actual raft that they were filming on. So that for me was a surreal moment. And I think at one point we were filming in a studio and next door was Numenor. So we went on there in Harfoot costumes to Numenor. And everyone was like Hi. But even going to Numenor was absolutely unreal.
Did You Take Cues From Frodo Or Sam While Preparing For The Role Or Did You Want To Branch Off From That?
Megan: For me, it was very much about building the character from the ground up and feeling her in my body and my bones. As an actor, I like to look at the material in front of me and go from there. But JD Payne and Patrick Mckay are such incredible creators that the characters they had written were so fully fleshed out that I wanted to do it justice. The friendship you see between Poppy and Nori was immediately there on the page. I could immediately think of their backstory and how they found each other. It was all there.
There Are So Many Great Characters In The Films And The Books. What Was That One Character, Apart From The One You're Playing That You've Always Wanted To Portray?
Sara: There are a lot of wonderful female characters in this show. I honestly feel like I'd love to take a stab at all of them at different points.
Markella: But I also wouldn't want to touch them because they're so amazing and the actors who are playing them, I can't imagine anyone else playing them. Like I can't imagine any other actor playing Queen Miriel (Cynthia Addai-Robinson ). It's difficult to be objective after seeing their amazing performances.
Did You Dabble Into Fan Theories While Filming?
Markella: I did not look at fan theories. For me, I tried not to get wrapped up in any kind of thoughts around the series. I was so focused on the character and her story which was easier to do because we all had to keep it so confidential. We had to keep it within the circle so that was easy.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power which also features Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Charles Edwards, Benjamin Walker, Charlie Vickers, Owain Arthur and others is available to stream on OTT.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: The Rings of Power’s Robert Aramayo, Charles Edwards on playing Elrond and Celebrimbor
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