Who Voices Sauron In The Lord Of The Rings And The Hobbit Movies

Sauron is one of the most recognizable characters in "The Lord of the Rings," but the visual depiction of the Dark Lord varies from book to screen. In Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" movies, in particular, we get the iconic depictions of Sauron as a flaming eye on a tower, and in "The Hobbit" trilogy, Sauron is in his mysterious necromancer guise.

That's what Sauron looks like. But what about the Dark Lord's voice? He doesn't just look scary. The guy can talk (albeit in a sinister and difficult-to-understand manner). If you're wondering who helps bring this audible dimension of the terrifying villain to life, look no further than Alan Howard and Benedict Cumberbatch. British actor Alan Howard voiced Sauron (channeled through the form of the One Ring) throughout "The Lord of the Rings" movies.

Howard passed away in 2015 — the same year as beloved Saruman actor Christopher Lee (who died right after watching "The Lord of the Rings" movies one more time). That was also the year after the "Hobbit" trilogy wrapped up. While Lee was able to return for "The Hobbit" franchise, though, Howard did not. Instead, the responsibility of voicing Middle-earth's big baddie in his necromancer form was transferred to the one and only Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch also plays Smaug in that movie — and he doesn't just voice act. While filming, the actor slipped into a motion-capture suit and got down on all fours to perform the character's reptilian movements. It's fun, impressive, and cool to see what it looks like without special effects, too.

Voicing Sauron is an interesting task, if only because we don't hear what the Dark Lord sounds like in Tolkien's writing. He says a few things here and there, but we don't get to hear how he projects or the kind of voice he has. However, while it isn't directly stated, Tolkien did say in the appendices of "The Lord of the Rings" that Sauron created the "Black Speech" for his servants to use when they talk to each other. The book "The Peoples of Middle-Earth" describes adds:

[The Black Speech] was so full of harsh and hideous sounds and vile words that other mouths found it difficult to compass, and few indeed were willing to make the attempt.

When Gandalf reads the inscription on the One Ring at the Council of Elrond, the words are written in the hideous Black Speech of Mordor. When he starts speaking it aloud, the text in "The Fellowship of the Ring" book describes it, saying:

The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears.

It's worth noting that earlier in the book, Gandalf reads out what the One Ring says, but he translates it into the Common Speech, and nothing like this happens. It is uttering the words in that malicious, terrifying language that gives the words agency and a life of their own. So, while Sauron's voice doesn't get described directly in the books, there's no doubt that his audible utterances have power — and that he can even infuse that into a language that invokes terror when others speak it.

While Sauron's voice doesn't get too much attention in "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" books, Tolkien does talk about Sauron having a terrifying appearance. His eye is identified as particularly scary, and "The Silmarillion" book says, "the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure." Gollum also talks about Sauron's hand missing a finger (thanks to the heroics of Isildur, a member of Aragorn's family tree), indicating that Sauron has a full appearance of some sort during "The Lord of the Rings." In reality, though, Sauron's looks are mostly as hazy as his voice this far into the Middle-earth timeline, and Tolkien doesn't talk about them much.

You have to go back several thousand years to get a clearer depiction of the Dark Lord's looks. We're talking much earlier in Middle-earth history in the First and Second ages, when Sauron didn't have to wear black armor. Quite the opposite. He spends a lot of time as an attractive fella at this stage. While Sauron does take many different forms over time, one of these is an Elvish, almost angelic look, which we can assume comes with a lighter, melodious sound to his speech. In "The Rings of Power," we get this sexier version of Sauron in his pre-black armor Elven form. It's wild watching actor Charlie Vickers voice this version of the Dark Lord and thinking about how different it is from the terrifyingly melodramatic tone that Alan Howard and Benedict Cumberbatch had to conjure for their later iterations.