The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne revealed how COVID-19 caused the cast and crew's fears of a canceled production.
"We're all just going, 'Oh my god, what are we going to do?'" Payne told Vanity Fair regarding the Rings of Power's on-set anxiety during 2020's pandemic outbreak. On March 11, as the Lord of the Rings prequel series filmed an early installment of its eight episodes in New Zealand, news broke about COVID-19's emergence. According to McKay, the crew was glued to their phones, creating the overwhelming worry that The Rings of Power's production would have to shut down indefinitely.
Prime Video's upcoming series envisions the fantasy anthology's vast backstory, detailed in The Lord of the Rings' appendices by J.R.R. Tolkien. In the hopes of attracting The Lord of the Rings' massive literary and film fanbase, The Rings of Power has set a new precedent in television history by becoming the most expensive series ever. Some estimates believe the show's five seasons may cost Amazon Studios well over $1 billion. For this reason, COVID-19's consequences could have been catastrophic for The Rings of Power's production. "It was terrifying," McKay admitted. "'Oh my god, is anyone going to understand what we're trying to do here? Is this way too ambitious? We have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow.'"
The very same day the COVID-19 bulletins broke, a motivational moment rallied The Rings of Power's cast and crew. While filming a pivotal scene with Galadriel actor Morfydd Clark, the crew briefly ignored their pinging phones and watched her riveting performance. "Morfydd was a few days into being Galadriel, which is probably terrifying," McKay said. "She's in water. There's a lot of visual effects. There's music and light." During the scene, Galadriel, an Elven queen previously portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, is stranded on a raft upon the storm-swept Sundering Seas.
"Everyone was crowing around the monitor as we're doing this close-up where Galadriel's face fills the screen and she cries, and she decides: I have to fight," said McKay. According to the showrunners, the soundstage erupted in cheers after the scene concluded. "It's a perfect example of how Tolkien and Middle-earth have a way of finding you, even in the darkest and most uncertain moments," Payne added.
Since the Elven race can live immensely long lives, The Rings of Power's Galadriel is thousands of years younger than Blanchett's previous portrayals. But despite the age difference, McKay and Payne suggested that the upcoming Galadriel rendition remains a morally ambiguous character, filled with power-hungry ambitions.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power debuts Sept. 2 on Prime Video.
Source: Vanity Fair
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