One of the most exciting new additions toThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power— Prime Video’s epic series inspired by the works ofJ.R.R. Tolkien— is going to be the popular character Tom Bombadil.The enigmatic, mischievous, and massively powerful character will be seen in live-action for the first timeinthe show’s upcoming second season, in which he’s played by the always excitingRory Kinnear. Tom Bombadil joins a host of characters — Galadriel and Elrond are just a couple that have already appeared on the show — thatfans of Tolkien’s novels will be familiar with. ActorDavid Weyman, who plays the mysterious The Stranger inThe Rings of Power, spoke about Kinnear’s casting and the fun they had filming together.
Chatting with Collider’sTherese Lacsonatthe ongoing San Diego Comic Con, Weyman and actorMegan Richards, who plays Poppy Proudfellow in the series, addressed the “power” that Tom Bombadil wields, and how that’ll impact the dynamic that he shares with The Stranger. “I’m so excited. He’s such a jolly fellow. I love to see it,” Richards said, as Weyman spoke about The Stranger having to be more “responsive and reactive” around Tom. In his own words:
“What I like about those scenes is that in Season 1, The Stranger was sort of trying to understand this power that was around him and the energy that was around him, and it largely had consequences for the communities he was within. They had to react to it. But in this scenario, it’s Tom Bombadil who’s got the power and the energies and knows how to wield them. Suddenly, The Stranger is having to be responsive and reactive, and we’ve never seen him in that territory before. So, it’s gonna be quite exciting to see how The Stranger feels when suddenly the boot’s on the other foot. Tom Bombadil is full of mischief. He is enigmatic, he is whimsical, and he sings.”
The Second Season of ‘The Rings of Power’ Will Debut in August
Kinnear is perhaps best known for his role as Tanner, M’s aide, in theDaniel CraigJames Bond movies.A widely decorated actor who has won two Olivier Awards, Kinnear also played the (multiple) titular roles in directorAlex Garland’s creepy horror movieMen, and famously appeared in the harrowing debut episode ofBlack Mirror. He was most recently featured asWinston Churchillin directorGuy Ritchie’s World War 2 action-comedyThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.Tom Bombadilfirst appeared in Tolkien’s poetry collection “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” and wascontroversially omitted from directorPeter Jackson’s celebrated live-action trilogyof movies.
The three films were recently re-released in theatersto significant success, paving the way for what is going to bean exciting year for Lord of the Rings fans.The second season ofThe Rings of Powerwill debut in late August, while a new anime-inspired feature film titledThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimwill be released theatrically in December. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
