Just as the cast of Game of Thrones swelled to an unwieldy number, especially when you add in extras and guest appearances, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is going to have a lot of folks on the payroll. The latest additions to the hugely-expensive Tolkien adaptation amounts to a whopping 20 (!!!), most of them unknown but a couple of recognizable names in there.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker and Sara Zwangobani are the latest to join Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series. It’s pretty much every British or New Zealand actor in the world that isn’t part of the upper echelon, but we know they’re all busy making Harry Potter and James Bond films, anyway.
Addai-Robinson has plenty of series experience, having starred in the excellent Spartacus on Starz and taking the role of Amanda Waller in Arrow. Scottish actor Peter Mullan has done pretty much everything, earning acclaim for his roles in Tyrranosaur, The Calm, Braveheart, and more. He also directed The Magdalene Sisters, appeared in two Harry Potter films, and a season of Westworld.
Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman have already been cast as part of the most ambitious series Amazon has ever attempted. JD Payne and Patrick McKay will act as showrunners, with J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) directing the first two episodes.
