Robert Aramayo (‘Nocturnal Animals’,’Galveston’) has just returned to the realm of fantasy TV by joining the cast of Amazon Studios‘ upcoming ‘Lord of the Rings‘ series. The actor previously might be recognized by playing a young Ned Stark on HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ and has gone from one blockbuster series to what will likely be another.
The actor is set to replace Will Poulter (‘The Maze Runner,’ ‘Midsommar’), who was initially set to play the young hero of the series. The character is being referred to as Beldor, and Poulter passed on the role due to scheduling issues.
Amazon has yet to confirm the cast, but Aramayo is said to be joining Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, and Morfydd Clark, who are also rumored to be part of the production. The series has J.D. Payne, and Patrick McKay set as the co-showrunners.
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This billion-dollar adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic novels has already received a Season 2 renewal before we’ve even seen any marketing material which shows the streaming giant’s keen interest in the series. It was also announced that there would be a 4-5 month hiatus after the filming of the first two episodes in order to map out the second season and shoot it back-to-back.
When it comes to the original stories that will be told against the backdrop of Tolkien’s works, Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey who is involved in the series, shared:
“Amazon has a relatively free hand when it comes to adding something, since, as I said, very few details are known about this time span. The Tolkien Estate will insist that the main shape of the Second Age is not altered. Sauron invades Eriador, is forced back by a Númenorean expedition, returns to Númenor. There he corrupts the Númenoreans and seduces them to break the ban of the Valar. All this, the course of history, must remain the same. But you can add new characters and ask a lot of questions, like: What has Sauron done in the meantime? Where was he after Morgoth was defeated? Theoretically, Amazon can answer these questions by inventing the answers, since Tolkien did not describe it. But it must not contradict anything that Tolkien did say. That’s what Amazon has to watch out for. It must be canonical, it is impossible to change the boundaries which Tolkien has created, it is necessary to remain “Tolkienian.””
With this in mind, we have a lot of original stories that could be told, and it will be interesting to see if Beldor is an entirely new character or a placeholder of who the actor will be playing.
Are you looking forward to Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’? Do you feel that after playing Ned Stark that Robert Aramayo is the perfect actor to lead a fantasy series? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
