JD Payne and Patrick McKay, the showrunners, and Lindsey Weber, the executive producer, are the masterminds behind this new adaptation of Tolkien’s play, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, this time for the small screen. Hand in hand with Prime Video, and with the full confidence of the platform, both showrunners oversaw the first season of one of the most anticipated series of the year. With them we had the opportunity to talk so that they can give us the keys on how to properly adapt the mythical author, how to access this gigantic world and how to attract both diehard fans and newbies to the series.
“We took every aspect of Tolkien’s work into consideration when creating new plots and characters”Payne explains, “The maxim was that he looked like Tolkien, that he looked like Middle-earth. That was the main goal.. Then we spent a lot of time on the language: we read Tolkien every day and we told our writers to read it. There is something elevated about the language of the novel and we wanted to make sure we capture that beauty that the pages convey. But beyond that, any detail you can imagine! In the costume department, everything counted: every fabric, every sign was made in reference to the more than 9,000 years of imaginary history that Tolkien created during his lifetime “. For his part, McCay has decided to keep one aspect above the others: “I would say that if there is one aspect that we have taken more into consideration, that would be the tone. What makes Tolkien and Middle-earth authentic are the different types of beings that there are, living in society in a friendly way between They. . Create that warmth, optimism, charm, but also that intense drama. Tolkien can be scary, people can die! But at the same time they can seem like hobbits singing a sweet and funny song. Finding a way to combine these two tones within the series was one of our goals. And if people felt that way, we would be very happy. “.
In a world as rich as Tolkien’s, the rarity of the creatures that inhabit it is unimaginable. Of all kinds of beings, McCay couldn’t pick one he most wanted to bring to the screen: “Everyone! The best thing about doing this was being able to bring to the screen aspects of Tolkien’s writing and world that hadn’t been appreciated in previous adaptations. Our dwarves, for example, are funny and quick-tempered, but they are also dramatic at family level. ” in the Shakespearean sense for all the episodes. Our elves are ethereal, strange and pretentious, but they are also magical, passionate, intense, imperfect. Crossing the different worlds, we tried to look beyond the adaptations of animated films or those of Peter Jackson. Hopefully they can live with their tone, but also with that of the novels “. Payne added: “We like all the characters, but there are personal affinities. It seems to me that there is something incredible in the ancient wisdom of the elves “. Weber revealed that he also has a favorite breed: “I love dwarves. I love being in that world, the characters played by Owain Arthur and Sophia Nomvete are charming and lovely. It’s a world where I always smile when I visit it, and other times it has made me cry because of exciting things happening more Go ahead and I love them. The world looks beautiful in this Second Era, much richer and full of life. It was a lot of fun to work on and develop it together with our team. “. Ultimately, McCay decided: “I will stay with the Orcs. They are another race within Middle-earth and we wanted to do them justice. Tolkien talks a lot about their origins and personalities and we wanted to capture him. We would like people to understand better at the end of the season.”“.
The part that touches the race of men is the most complicated, and most similar to the memory of Isildur in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. The showrunners talked about it: “I think it will grow from previous stories where it was just the guy who takes the ring and has a chance to destroy it, but he makes the mistake of not doing it. We wanted it to be the final decision in a busy but understandable story arc. We talk a lot about Michael Corleone in “The Godfather”, you see a character making decisions he can’t avoid and ultimately lead him to be the person he is. You see it is tragic but you end up understanding it, you see the loss of him, the suffering of him “Payne explained.
fantasy for them
In addition to Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel, we have Nazanin Boniadi as the brave Bronwyn and two hobbits from the furry group: Nori, played by Markella Kavenagh, and Megan Richards, played by Poppy. This inclination towards female characters seems not to have been premeditated, as showrunners confirmed: “We just wanted to tell a story and there are stories that can be told with all kinds of people, with different backgrounds and with different pasts. Middle-earth is full of wonderful creatures of different races. Having a strong woman came naturally to us, just like ‘The Lord of the Rings’ had Éowyn and Arwen in the Third Age.”Payne made it clear. Something fair was sought, according to Weber: “Our cast is made up of equal parts of men and women, so …”. McCay, for his part, thinks this element may surprise: “We wanted our series to be different and surprising than previous stories in Tolkien’s universe. Some of the characters and the dynamic between them may be familiar to you but they are different. It’s something we talk about a lot: how to tell it stories with themes and ideas. new, but that have come out of the books “McCay commented. “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered on Amazon Prime Video with two episodes on September 2.
Source: E Cartelera
