Amazon's 'The Lord Of The Rings' Show Casts 'Midsommar' Star Will Poulter
Will Poulter, the 26-year-old English actor who appeared earlier this year in Midsommar and last year's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, is heading to Middle-earth. Poulter has snagged one of the lead roles in Amazon's ambitious (and ultra-expensive) The Lord of the Rings television series, joining Australian actress Markella Kavenagh.Variety reports that Poulter has been cast as one of the leads in the new show, although no details about his character have been revealed. But Variety refers to this as a "huge win" for the actor, because this part was apparently one of the biggest gigs in town for people in his age range. Meanwhile, Kavenaugh hasn't technically been confirmed yet – she was still in talks when word broke earlier this summer about her possible involvement – but since we haven't heard that she's left the project, it seems as if everything's still good on that front.
Poulter is an excellent actor who's shown considerable range in projects from We're the Millers to The Revenant, and when I sat down with him earlier this year to talk about his role in Midsommar, I found him to be an thoughtful, intelligent guy who seemed very aware of his career trajectory and the responsibilities he has as a person with a voice in this industry, so I'm happy to see him get such a high-profile role here.
The Lord of the Rings series is set in author J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age, an era well before the events of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. Recently, we heard that Amazon only has the rights to depict events that occurred in the Second Age, meaning that unless they secure additional rights, they won't be jumping forward in time to depict any events we're familiar with from The Lord of the Rings.
That said, the original trilogy's flashbacks of Isildur slicing the One Ring from Sauron's hand take place in the Second Age, so it's possible that we'll see those events portrayed again on the small screen. For all we know, Poulter may even be playing Isildur himself in the show.
JD Payne and Patrick McKay are overseeing this series, which has J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) on board to direct multiple episodes in the first season, which is said to have 20 episodes. You can see a complete list of the behind-the-scenes talent here, which includes several producers from shows like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. The show does not have a release date yet, but we'll keep you updated as soon as we learn more.