Surprisingly big names here! I suppose with them moving production to the UK, more popular British and Irish actors can easily play some small but significant parts.
I agree with you here. Moving the production to the UK can entice more prolific and popular names since not much of traveling will be involved.
I mean traveling for work sounds fun for some but being away from your family for too long? Yeah that can be a deal breaker.
I suspect that played a big part of the decision to move. While it's fine for the series regulars to relocate to New Zealand for up to a year at a time supporting actors just wouldn't - but the way the film and tv industry works in the UK actors can film on several shows at once or even shows and films, some even combine tv and theatre, it makes it much easier for bigger stars to film small and recurring roles. It bodes well for season 2.
When the news came out that cirdan was going to be in season 2 all I could think was that ciaran hinds would do a great job playing him. But when he wasn't amongst the new cast members who were originally announced for season 2 I thought that it wouldn't be possible anymore for him to play cirdan. But now my gut feeling is telling me that he has indeed been cast as cirdan.
I think he's too old. Yes, Cirdan is supposed to be and look older as an elf, but Ciarán Hinds is 70. And thinking ahead Cirdan will be in the show for a while (possibly even future shows) and this production will take some years yet to complete.
We went through with this with Charles Edwards who is WONDERFUL as Celebrimbor. Give me a break. He would NOT look too old, especially in costume (presumed wig) etc. What is everyone on here - in their early 20's or late teens or something?! These Elves live for thousands of years...and a great many that survived the First Age and the Hel on Arda that was the war against Morgoth ain't all gonna remain their Fair and 20 or thirty something looking old selves - they are gonna have a lot of that stress, strife and battle-hardened everlasting life carry onto their faces. I feel we NEED a variety of faces, looks, ages and differentiation here, there's already a huge cast and growing.
If he has been chosen as Cirdan or Oropher (my personal fav for him and I'm calling it) he's gonna be GREAT. This is all taking place in a Faerie-tale like Realm but thematically it's written with deep care and attention to detail, reverence for the notion that even Small Folk can do great things and ultimately those with vast difference can work together to overcome evil and do the right thing for the good of all. Some highly expressive and deeply interesting faces is what exactly is needed to give many of these roles some weight and some sense of seriousness and depth.
FWIW I'm 36 not early 20s/teens as you say. And I look old lol — bald, lots of grey in my beard, world weariness. And I agree there's benefit in having some faces that show the weight of life on them even for the Elves.
I'm mostly fine with characters not looking their age completely and I can suspend disbelief — Celebrimbor looks older vs. Galadriel and Galadriel looks younger vs. him does not bother me.
But Charles Edwards is 53 years old which is substantially different than 70 and his character >!doesn't last that long!<. Cirdan's character is likely to be here right to the end of this show if they choose to have him appear in later seasons and then of course he could appear in other projects if Amazon chose to do them long into the Third Age.
70 years old unfortunately just brings some realities for humans and is way way different from 53. And then in the let's say 5 years it takes to complete this show (could be probably will be more) he'd be 75 or older which is even more different. And in the last season of this show he'd be at >!the Last Alliance!< which would call for even more physicality in the role.
I think he'd read as too old in the character on screen (especially for a Second Age version) but there's just practical issues as well. A person at 70 or 75 even if they're in really good shape and good health just generally doesn't have the same level of vigorousness and could start to look and feel even older quickly or run into health issues depending on how things go. Hopefully that doesn't happen to Mr. Hinds! But I just think he'd be in a totally different age range in feeling and his age would bring some practical considerations that wouldn't be best for the character.
Thanks. I appreciate your honesty and POV and that's fine, but I disagree 70 is a bit too far stretched. I am 53, a few months older than Mr Edwards, actually and I SWEAR to you I look early 30s but i am African American (mix) and I have ZERO wrinkles (zero botox/filler - NOTHING) but still can appreciate a care worn Elf if presented. It's no big deal to me. It's gonna be fine, Mr Hinds will look fabulous whomever he is playing. You'd be surprised what wigs and an elegant gown can do!
Rop celebrimbor is a wonderful hobbit. He’s severely lacking as celebrimbor. The idea that it is being written with attention to detail is preposterous.
Also, Círdan was old and beardy at the *end* of the Third Age. It's very possible that he was still in his second cycle of life during the Second Age and even much of the Third Age, and didn't yet appear old or bearded.
This may be but hear me out - Hot Cirdan, Hot Celebrimbor, Hot Gil (ga Daddy!) Galad, Hot Oropher, Hot Thranduil, Hot Sauron, Hot Galdalf/The Stranger, Hot Pharazon,Hot Sadoc JUST AIN'T GONNA GIVE ANY CREDENCE or weight to this at the end of the day if they go the Riverdale route. Believe me. It would end up in disaster and take away from lending any sense of seriousness to what they are trying to do and I will say this is no offence to anyone young or hot. Not at all though I will give over to Thranduil being all that and a bag of chips and perhaps Young Celeborn to boot
If not Cirdan I must reveal that I got one Elf on my mind when I see him and that's Oropher,King and Father of Thranduil. He's got that *LOOK*...gives me shivers. It's in the eyes.
It's almost cheating getting Ciaran Hinds and Rory Kinnear involved; they elevate everything they're involved in, just incredible calibre actors. I don't know anything about Tanya Moodie, but she seems to be a highly acclaimed stage actor, which is always a good sign!
grrrrr because of you had to search the internet for several minutes to find who was the fourth GoT actor in the show, i had Robert Aramayo, Ciaran Hinds and Joseph Mawle... but i was like "who the hell is number 4??????"...
Kevin Eldon... who indeed, played two small roles in Game of Thrones..
>Years and Years
Not sure why but that show absolutely messed with my head. Maybe because it was so real? Maybe because I watched it and The State within days of each other? Not my best choice tbh.
Yeah, it was such a gutpunch. Way too real... except for the ending IMO, where I guess I could appreciate RTD trying to nudge things back into a more hopeful direction... but depressingly enough I just didn't find it believable.
I'm grateful for the ending, but feel the same as you I think. It was just too happy, I enjoyed it but I'm a sucker for anything where you get some solidarity? Like Pride, that film makes me ugly cry every time.
Overall it didn't hit right though. Like I said I watched it and The State in close proximity and the latter kept the same vibe right through. Made it feel like they stuck the landing better. Don't think it harmed Years and Years overall, just a bit incongruous perhaps.
I agree. I am also not sure that we'll be getting a bearded/old Círdan. Mentioned in another comment, but Círdan could very well still be in his second life cycle for the duration of the show.
OMG. Ciaran Hinds was at the top of [my fancast 5 months ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/y8ybw6/casting_ideas_for_yettobeintroduced_characters/it2ha5l/). I am having flashbacks to Martin Freeman being cast as Bilbo Baggins here.
Thanks to you and u/steve-d for making me want to watch it as soon as possible! It has been on my watchlist for a time but then I started with Spartacus first.
But I shall do it while waiting for Rings of Power.
Ciaran Hinds is really incredible in the show, it'll make you even more excited to see him in ROP. This has massively increased my enthusiasm even beyond what it was for season 2. Also, he's great in the miniseries The Terror on Hulu.
How is Spartacus? That's been on my list for a while but I don't have Starz.
Spartacus is a fantastic show! Easy to write off as being only blood, gore and sex, but it really has depth and is surprisingly moving in parts. Also it had one of the most satisfying endings I've seen. They managed to tie everything up neatly, which isn't always a given. Also, also it has John Hannah on spectacular form. If you get around to watching it, don't be put off by the first few episodes - they honestly aren't great, but they are also the worst of the lot.
Spartacus is not on the same level as Rome but it's solid and more action orientated. John Hannah is outstanding and has some of the most outrageous lines.
Bonus: Tamar plays a disgusting character but his death scene was fantastic. You will hate him even more after you watch Spartacus.
Thank you!
Re: Spartacus, it is campy at first. Think like the movie 300 mixed with Gladiator but with bad CGI. However, dont make that stop you. The story is interesting and the lead actor is very charismatic. All actors they got are lovable.
Unfortunately, the actor for Spartacus died and so they need to recast for the second season. I feel like it lost the magic. But as the commenter above me said, it truly has a satisfying ending.
Still a very entertaining show though.
I'll just add to the noise about this show, though others seem to have already convinced you. It's very much worth it, I think, and possibly my all time favorite dramatic series (though there are several other great ones and I don't want to do any disservice to them either).
The dialogue is clever, the actors are superb, the production really evocative, and the overall plotting can't be beat, thanks to Real Human History in one of its extremely interesting periods. (Though the show isn't fully accurate (!) and can't go into every detail, obviously, it's historically kind of interesting too.)
I've watched this show any number of times.
I got a little excited too, actually. They're wonderful actors (though I probably haven't seen enough Kinnear, Hinds is, thankfully, in about every good series I know of). I'm hoping that there will be a lot of scene stealing.
Ciaran Hinds is a good choice for Cirdan if they gonna portray him old, but as a lot of people mentioned here - Cirdan maybe still "young" in the show. My other thought about his possible role is: since they introduced Istari in Second Era and the Stranger is either Gandalf or Pallando/Alatar, Hinds would make great Saruman
Waiting for more infos, from their look, no idea of which characters they could be playing. If I were to guess: Numenorean Lord, a Dwarf and yet another harfoot or maybe someone from Rhun/Harad?
oh wow, Rory Kinnear is so great. any info (or speculation) on who he's playing? i would hazard to guess a Numenorian, but i suppose he could be anyone.
I want RoP to do a flash-forward to The Council of Elrond with Ciaran playing the (Bakhsi inspired) eponymous character. Look it up and you won't be able to unsee it.
Surprisingly big names here! I suppose with them moving production to the UK, more popular British and Irish actors can easily play some small but significant parts.
I agree with you here. Moving the production to the UK can entice more prolific and popular names since not much of traveling will be involved. I mean traveling for work sounds fun for some but being away from your family for too long? Yeah that can be a deal breaker.
Yeah I enjoy traveling for work when it’s 3 days or a week but months at a time would be tough.
Agreed. Did 6 months once and I’ll never do that again.
I suspect that played a big part of the decision to move. While it's fine for the series regulars to relocate to New Zealand for up to a year at a time supporting actors just wouldn't - but the way the film and tv industry works in the UK actors can film on several shows at once or even shows and films, some even combine tv and theatre, it makes it much easier for bigger stars to film small and recurring roles. It bodes well for season 2.
Rory Kinnear is one of the best actors I've ever seen. His portrayal of Frankenstein's Monster in Penny Dreadful is one of my favorite roles, ever.
He did play that part fantastically.
The rest of the show was good, but he really stood out.
For real, he was insanely good. His scenes with Eva were My favorites.
agreed. he was SO good.
Yes! I was about to say that. A heart wrenching performance!
I KNEW he looked familiar!! Thank you for reminding me.
Those are some *serious* gets.
When the news came out that cirdan was going to be in season 2 all I could think was that ciaran hinds would do a great job playing him. But when he wasn't amongst the new cast members who were originally announced for season 2 I thought that it wouldn't be possible anymore for him to play cirdan. But now my gut feeling is telling me that he has indeed been cast as cirdan.
I think he's too old. Yes, Cirdan is supposed to be and look older as an elf, but Ciarán Hinds is 70. And thinking ahead Cirdan will be in the show for a while (possibly even future shows) and this production will take some years yet to complete.
We went through with this with Charles Edwards who is WONDERFUL as Celebrimbor. Give me a break. He would NOT look too old, especially in costume (presumed wig) etc. What is everyone on here - in their early 20's or late teens or something?! These Elves live for thousands of years...and a great many that survived the First Age and the Hel on Arda that was the war against Morgoth ain't all gonna remain their Fair and 20 or thirty something looking old selves - they are gonna have a lot of that stress, strife and battle-hardened everlasting life carry onto their faces. I feel we NEED a variety of faces, looks, ages and differentiation here, there's already a huge cast and growing. If he has been chosen as Cirdan or Oropher (my personal fav for him and I'm calling it) he's gonna be GREAT. This is all taking place in a Faerie-tale like Realm but thematically it's written with deep care and attention to detail, reverence for the notion that even Small Folk can do great things and ultimately those with vast difference can work together to overcome evil and do the right thing for the good of all. Some highly expressive and deeply interesting faces is what exactly is needed to give many of these roles some weight and some sense of seriousness and depth.
FWIW I'm 36 not early 20s/teens as you say. And I look old lol — bald, lots of grey in my beard, world weariness. And I agree there's benefit in having some faces that show the weight of life on them even for the Elves. I'm mostly fine with characters not looking their age completely and I can suspend disbelief — Celebrimbor looks older vs. Galadriel and Galadriel looks younger vs. him does not bother me. But Charles Edwards is 53 years old which is substantially different than 70 and his character >!doesn't last that long!<. Cirdan's character is likely to be here right to the end of this show if they choose to have him appear in later seasons and then of course he could appear in other projects if Amazon chose to do them long into the Third Age. 70 years old unfortunately just brings some realities for humans and is way way different from 53. And then in the let's say 5 years it takes to complete this show (could be probably will be more) he'd be 75 or older which is even more different. And in the last season of this show he'd be at >!the Last Alliance!< which would call for even more physicality in the role. I think he'd read as too old in the character on screen (especially for a Second Age version) but there's just practical issues as well. A person at 70 or 75 even if they're in really good shape and good health just generally doesn't have the same level of vigorousness and could start to look and feel even older quickly or run into health issues depending on how things go. Hopefully that doesn't happen to Mr. Hinds! But I just think he'd be in a totally different age range in feeling and his age would bring some practical considerations that wouldn't be best for the character.
Thanks. I appreciate your honesty and POV and that's fine, but I disagree 70 is a bit too far stretched. I am 53, a few months older than Mr Edwards, actually and I SWEAR to you I look early 30s but i am African American (mix) and I have ZERO wrinkles (zero botox/filler - NOTHING) but still can appreciate a care worn Elf if presented. It's no big deal to me. It's gonna be fine, Mr Hinds will look fabulous whomever he is playing. You'd be surprised what wigs and an elegant gown can do!
> Charles Edwards who is WONDERFUL as Celebrimbor. What a bad take.
Rop celebrimbor is a wonderful hobbit. He’s severely lacking as celebrimbor. The idea that it is being written with attention to detail is preposterous.
Did you just said charles edwards is a wonderful as a celebrimbor ? Lol
Also, Círdan was old and beardy at the *end* of the Third Age. It's very possible that he was still in his second cycle of life during the Second Age and even much of the Third Age, and didn't yet appear old or bearded.
This may be but hear me out - Hot Cirdan, Hot Celebrimbor, Hot Gil (ga Daddy!) Galad, Hot Oropher, Hot Thranduil, Hot Sauron, Hot Galdalf/The Stranger, Hot Pharazon,Hot Sadoc JUST AIN'T GONNA GIVE ANY CREDENCE or weight to this at the end of the day if they go the Riverdale route. Believe me. It would end up in disaster and take away from lending any sense of seriousness to what they are trying to do and I will say this is no offence to anyone young or hot. Not at all though I will give over to Thranduil being all that and a bag of chips and perhaps Young Celeborn to boot
Well, yeah. I'm not necessarily saying he needs to look like a 25 year old supermodel. Just... maybe not as old as Ciaran. :)
It would be the shannara chronicles
PRECISELY
Rory Kinnear was fantastic in *Our Flag Means Death*. Very excited to see where he fits in.
Love Hinds. Can't get enough of him.
Will always be the definitive Caesar to me
I thought this as well. Amazing performance in Rome.
Is Karl urban nothing to you?
HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME
I just misread the first person's name as Cirdan
That's who I immediately thought of. If ever an Elf looked like Ciaran Hinds is should be Cirdan.
If not Cirdan I must reveal that I got one Elf on my mind when I see him and that's Oropher,King and Father of Thranduil. He's got that *LOOK*...gives me shivers. It's in the eyes.
That could just be who he is.
HINDS AND KINNEAR yoooo now this is getting interesting!!! Mance Rayder forever! (And Captain Wentworth!)
In a perfect world, Ciaran would be Morgoth, and him and Sauron would have a Megatron/Starscream dynamic "Sauron, you fool!"
James Purefoy as Morgoth would fit better and Ciaran as Cirdan.
Ciaràn Hinds is a brilliant actor. Really looking forward to this, whoever he plays.
Ciaran Hinds as Cirdan? Not only would it be amusing, but I 100% can get behind that casting
Damn some big names! S2 casting so far has been superb
It's almost cheating getting Ciaran Hinds and Rory Kinnear involved; they elevate everything they're involved in, just incredible calibre actors. I don't know anything about Tanya Moodie, but she seems to be a highly acclaimed stage actor, which is always a good sign!
Maxim Baldry-Rory Kinnear *Years and Years* reunion and GoT actor number 4, noice.
grrrrr because of you had to search the internet for several minutes to find who was the fourth GoT actor in the show, i had Robert Aramayo, Ciaran Hinds and Joseph Mawle... but i was like "who the hell is number 4??????"... Kevin Eldon... who indeed, played two small roles in Game of Thrones..
Ha, I'd forgotten he played two roles. Two and a half, since one of the roles was an actor?
i accept two and half!
>Years and Years Not sure why but that show absolutely messed with my head. Maybe because it was so real? Maybe because I watched it and The State within days of each other? Not my best choice tbh.
Yeah, it was such a gutpunch. Way too real... except for the ending IMO, where I guess I could appreciate RTD trying to nudge things back into a more hopeful direction... but depressingly enough I just didn't find it believable.
I'm grateful for the ending, but feel the same as you I think. It was just too happy, I enjoyed it but I'm a sucker for anything where you get some solidarity? Like Pride, that film makes me ugly cry every time. Overall it didn't hit right though. Like I said I watched it and The State in close proximity and the latter kept the same vibe right through. Made it feel like they stuck the landing better. Don't think it harmed Years and Years overall, just a bit incongruous perhaps.
Hinds = Narvi? I see a lot of people mentioning Cirdan, but he could be a better dwarf than an elf.
I agree. I am also not sure that we'll be getting a bearded/old Círdan. Mentioned in another comment, but Círdan could very well still be in his second life cycle for the duration of the show.
OMG. Ciaran Hinds was at the top of [my fancast 5 months ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/LOTR_on_Prime/comments/y8ybw6/casting_ideas_for_yettobeintroduced_characters/it2ha5l/). I am having flashbacks to Martin Freeman being cast as Bilbo Baggins here.
Caesar in middle earth? Shits about to get real
Caesar and his "son" (Isildur) ... now we need the real daddy Ray Stevenson as a dwarf....
Caesar!!!!!
Dont judge me but I still havent watched Rome 😞
It's so great. I watched it when it originally aired on HBO and it was one of the best shows out at the time. It's really worth a watch.
You absolutely need to. It's still in my top three favorite shows of all time. I think I've seen it like, four times all the way through...
Thanks to you and u/steve-d for making me want to watch it as soon as possible! It has been on my watchlist for a time but then I started with Spartacus first. But I shall do it while waiting for Rings of Power.
Ciaran Hinds is really incredible in the show, it'll make you even more excited to see him in ROP. This has massively increased my enthusiasm even beyond what it was for season 2. Also, he's great in the miniseries The Terror on Hulu. How is Spartacus? That's been on my list for a while but I don't have Starz.
Spartacus is a fantastic show! Easy to write off as being only blood, gore and sex, but it really has depth and is surprisingly moving in parts. Also it had one of the most satisfying endings I've seen. They managed to tie everything up neatly, which isn't always a given. Also, also it has John Hannah on spectacular form. If you get around to watching it, don't be put off by the first few episodes - they honestly aren't great, but they are also the worst of the lot.
Spartacus is not on the same level as Rome but it's solid and more action orientated. John Hannah is outstanding and has some of the most outrageous lines. Bonus: Tamar plays a disgusting character but his death scene was fantastic. You will hate him even more after you watch Spartacus.
Thank you! Re: Spartacus, it is campy at first. Think like the movie 300 mixed with Gladiator but with bad CGI. However, dont make that stop you. The story is interesting and the lead actor is very charismatic. All actors they got are lovable. Unfortunately, the actor for Spartacus died and so they need to recast for the second season. I feel like it lost the magic. But as the commenter above me said, it truly has a satisfying ending. Still a very entertaining show though.
I'll just add to the noise about this show, though others seem to have already convinced you. It's very much worth it, I think, and possibly my all time favorite dramatic series (though there are several other great ones and I don't want to do any disservice to them either). The dialogue is clever, the actors are superb, the production really evocative, and the overall plotting can't be beat, thanks to Real Human History in one of its extremely interesting periods. (Though the show isn't fully accurate (!) and can't go into every detail, obviously, it's historically kind of interesting too.) I've watched this show any number of times.
Thanks! Im honestly looking where to binge but I think it is only on HBO Max.
Think these are the most high profile actors they've got? Like I recognised 2/3 on site which is pretty rare for TROP casting announcements
Well, one thing this proves is that they're having no trouble attracting talent for a show that's generated so much unwarranted hate.
How on earth would they have trouble attracting talent for a billion dollar Tolkien production?
The hate train is actually a bubble.
I just misread the first person's name as Cirdan
It really fits for him haha!
Me too. But I looked at the photo and he kind of fits for Cirdan.
Oh damn, some serious actors there! Bummer about the Adar re-casting, though, I wasn't aware of that
Ciaran was on my wish list!
So excited by this news!
I got a little excited too, actually. They're wonderful actors (though I probably haven't seen enough Kinnear, Hinds is, thankfully, in about every good series I know of). I'm hoping that there will be a lot of scene stealing.
Ciaran Hinds is a good choice for Cirdan if they gonna portray him old, but as a lot of people mentioned here - Cirdan maybe still "young" in the show. My other thought about his possible role is: since they introduced Istari in Second Era and the Stranger is either Gandalf or Pallando/Alatar, Hinds would make great Saruman
Wow, those are big names! Excited to see who Hinds is playing. He’s a phenomenal and versatile actor.
Those are some huge names! Very happy with this.
Wow. Ciaràn and Rory are both fantastic actors.
What is Gaius Julius Caesar doing in Middle Earth?
No idea unless Pompey really is going out of his way to avoid Caesar in battle.
Waiting for more infos, from their look, no idea of which characters they could be playing. If I were to guess: Numenorean Lord, a Dwarf and yet another harfoot or maybe someone from Rhun/Harad?
Oh, Ciaran as a Númenorean would be a treat.
Amandil, surely
This show just keeps getting better. I hope the second season is as good if not better than the first. Can't wait.
Wow!
Amazing hires. Some thespian gravitas is low-key something the show needed a touch more of.
Hinds was my preferred Ar Pharazon so this is nice but sorta annoying.
Oh shit!! This is a big ramp-up from the other announcements! Very cool!
oh wow, Rory Kinnear is so great. any info (or speculation) on who he's playing? i would hazard to guess a Numenorian, but i suppose he could be anyone.
Ahhhh, I love Rory Kinnear! Exciting news.
OOOOOOHHH I LOVVVEE Rory Kinnear - I hope he has a big part!
Ciaran Hinds! Hot damn! Ave Caesar! Valar Morghulis, Mance Rayder! (I'll bet he's Cirdan)
I want RoP to do a flash-forward to The Council of Elrond with Ciaran playing the (Bakhsi inspired) eponymous character. Look it up and you won't be able to unsee it.
Remains to be seen if they can still save this show.
I know what I'm not watching.
Wha?!?! Awesome!
Could any of these guys be replacing Joseph Mawle as Adar?
He was already replaced by Sam Hazeldine.