By Amazon’s ambitious and famously secretive Lord of the Rings series is finally taking shape. Recently, the streaming giant announced another four additions to the project’s already extensive ensemble cast, while reliable set reports indicate that principal photography for the first season is close to finishing.
In our last update on the still untitled show, we covered the addition of several actors playing ‘warlords’ (which may be a codename as several readers have suggested). Today we have news on the role of one of the lead actresses and even more actors joining the show.
Nazanin Boniadi plays Kari
First things first. According to her agency, English actress Nazanin Boniadi will play Kari in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings. Boniadi’s involvement in the series was announced in early 2020, along with most of the main cast, but thus far her role has not been divulged.
Fans eagerly awaiting the show will be familiar with the role, as Kari was one of several characters mentioned in an early report. She was described as a strong and self-sufficient village healer and mother of a young boy. It has also been alluded that she feels somewhat torn between her own people and the man she loves, who is an outsider.
Back in 2019, we found an audition for Kari, who in the scene is conversing with her lover (a man called Everard). While the video has since been taken down, you can still read the transcription here if you’re interested.
Cast update: Bridie Sisson and Robert Nairne
In other news, we’ve also learned that Bridie Sisson (Shortland Street) and Robert Nairne (The Crown, Penny Dreadful) are part of the cast of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings.
Sisson is an actress from New Zealand and has joined the cast in a currently still undisclosed role. Based on her appearance, we can imagine her playing an elven woman but that’s just a guess.
Englishman Nairne is an actor and creature performer, having worked in that capacity on Star Wars VII, VIII, IX, Rogue One, and Solo. Whether that is also his role in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings remans to be seen, though there should be no shortage of creatures to say the least.
Considering their previous work and the fact that they have not been announced alongside the other actors, we expect both of them to play minor roles, at least compared to the likes of Boniadi.
On that note, Amazon has been very tight-lipped about the Lord of the Rings main cast and the characters they are playing. Fingers crossed for an official announcement in the not too distant future! Should anything come up on our end, we’ll keep you updated here and on our Foreign Affairs twitter page.
