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One of the highlights of the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was the growing friendship of a hobbit named Nori (Markella Kavenaugh) with a mysterious figure who literally dropped out of the sky into her world. To be more specific, Nori belongs to a nomadic breed of hobbits known as Harfoots. For Nori and her kind, survival depends on staying close to her Harfoot tribe and never veering from the trail.
When Nori first encounters The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), her upbringing tells her to flee to the safety and security of her own kind. Instead, something about The Stranger evokes her sympathy and convinces her that he is good – despite of his penchant for unleashing magical chaos in moments of distress.
If you haven’t seen season one of Rings of Power, it won’t spoil things too much to say that the new episodes promise to send Nori and The Stranger (who was confirmed by the end of last season to be a wizard) into new adventures and dangers that will certainly challenge and deepen their relationship.
Aleteia spoke to Kavenagh and Weyman and asked what they most love about their characters and about portraying them.
A Harfoot who’s there for others
“I love Nori,” Markella Kavenaugh says. “I love playing her and I love exploring just everything about her as a being, and also the way she views the world.” Kavanaugh also loves how the young Harfoot is “a super open-minded, curious, nonjudgmental individual. I admire how she really stands up for others and really wants to be there for others.”
“I almost wish she would do that for herself,” Kavanaugh adds wryly.
Kavanaugh continues:
“Something I really love about her is being able to explore the notion of people around you being your home, and how important it is to be strong in your values and in what you believe in.”
Gratitude and a special connection
The 24-year-old Australian native has already appeared in a number of films and TV shows but Rings of Power is at a whole different level. A large international cast has been assembled to portray the many races of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
“I feel really grateful for this show,” Kavanaugh says. “It’s like a gift to play this role and portray this character onscreen. I also love acting alongside such brilliant actors and being able to delve into our dynamic and our characters’ dynamic. And I really do love being on set and discovering more and more each day.”
Daniel Weyman agrees, and points to his work with Kavanaugh as one of his favorite parts of the experience. “There was such a joy in in both seasons,” he says to his co-star, “rocking up to set and knowing that I was going to be working opposite you.”
“I was felt like The Stranger and Nori had this weird connection the first time they met. And I think that sort of mirrored how I felt about how we were on set.”
Listening as The Stranger
Playing The Stranger presented a particular challenge to Weyman because the character, though a key role with lots of screen time, had practically no dialogue in the first season.
“I think that the one of the joys for me was actually playing without dialogue in the first season,” Weyman says, “because it forced me to listen. Really listen. There was nothing for me to do. I didn't have to come up with anything. I just had to listen. And I found that that sort of coursed through my whole body, and I was able to tell a story physically, because I opened my ears properly. What a great lesson for a wizard going forward, who needs to experience stuff to become the true wizard.”
And I think that the relationship with Nori especially is so formative ... and there's such pure lessons for friendship, love, honesty, truth, comfort, and sensitivity that he hopefully, The Stranger -- wherever he goes, whatever he does -- that will remain solidly with him for his journey. And that relationship will always be there. I love knowing that; I love playing that. I love that about The Stranger.”
The second season of Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video this Thursday. We will have more to share about this epic story set in the Second Age of Tolkien’s Middle Earth in the coming days, including an interview with writer Patrick McKay and producer Lindsey Weber.
You can watch the video of our chat below:
