It felt like I got on a rollercoaster and just kept going.
I dont think it was until I got into my costume on set that it really hit.
Your imagination can only go so far.
Sophia Nomveteas Disa andOwain Arthuras Durin.Prime Video
Imagination was key because the scale ofThe Rings of Poweris unprecedented.
You did feel that when you were there.
You could be completely transformed, see nothing but set.
The orcs and the background actors are such a massive part of it.
Ive never felt more like [acting] is not an individual pursuit.
Such a plot required vivid, layered characters of all sizes, which inevitably brought challenges for its cast.
For the cast, creating such non-human roles requires more of actors, not less.
Fantasy pushes you to elevate your craft, says Sophia Nomvete, who plays the garrulous dwarf princess Disa.
Thats whats exciting about the craft for actors working with fantasy.
Creativity at its highest form, I think.
Her onscreen husband Durin, aka Welsh actor Owain Arthur, concurs.
It feels like theater.
I remember coming off the days work buzzing with adrenalin.
And Ive never had that on TV or film before, only on stage.
He even grew fond of his prosthetic nose and itchy beard.
Id never worked with prosthetics before, so I was excited.
But I quickly realized how challenging it was going to be.
With all of this stuff on, itisa hindrance.
So, it took a while.
But still, today, Im humbled.
I thought they were real, and I grew up in the mountains!
It was that level of detail; theres mythology in each of the sets for each world.
I fought tooth and nail for the role.
Fantasy, growing up, did give me magic.
I always wanted to be an elf.
It inspired me to go into filmmaking, because of the bonus features onLord of the Rings.
Its very removed from anything we can pull from life.
That moment, repeated in his audition, made it to an episode of the show.
Nor is he alone in contributing ideas to McKay and Paynes vision of Middle Earth.
They were so inspiring, says Arthur of the showrunners.
John and Patrick were my gateway into this world.
Just watching both of them being so excited about what they were creating was intoxicating.
I felt that I had the right to contribute to that level of excitement like, what about this?
Theres stuff that happens in Season 2 that I think came from a conversation we had together.
Its wonderful to have such receptive showrunners.
Its proof that even a half-billion-dollar behemoth can allow for individual creative input.
Of course, in the end much of the shows massive cost was due to Covid delays.
The pandemic hit just as the cast began to arrive in New Zealand.
Nomvete, for example, was in New Zealand for 362 days before shooting her first scene.
We were some of the only people in the whole world who could keep going, Clark says.
That feeling was very difficult to wrap your head around.
It elevated us to be as good as we possibly could be, and everyone became deeply obsessed.
Sometimes I want to say it was fine.
But it floored us, says Cruz Cordova.
It really, at one time, destroyed my sense of, Why am I doing this?
We would get on the phone just to cry, to scream.
The real bonds that we had were necessary for us to be able to withstand that.
It was that bond that kept us going.
We were tired, agrees Nomvete.
But we weathered that storm, and we couldnt have without the solidarity of everyone in our team.
Season 2 is the unravelling of it all.
The stakes are higher.
We see what that force of evil does to each race and to each relationship.
Theres so much more action.
We weathered the storms, and theres a real sense of confidence in who and what we are.
Im really excited about it.
