When you adapt something as epic as JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, you know, as Peter Jackson learned during his big screen experience, that you need a hefty cast. Yet the team behind the Amazon series are stuffing the ensemble so full of people you'll wonder there's room in New Zealand. Just today, Amazon announced 20 new additions, including Peter Mullan, Benjamin Walker and Lenny Henry.
The rest of the new line-up has Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham and Sara Zwangobani.
They join the already busy list of 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, and we predict someone at the IMDB will be suffering from RSI.
This new series will chronicle stories from before the time of The Fellowship Of The Ring, which should set it apart from the films. JD Payne and Patrick McKay are running the show alongside J.A. Bayona (who is directing the first two episodes as well as serving as executive producer).
"The world that JRR Tolkien created is epic, diverse, and filled with heart," Payne and McKay said in a statement. "These extraordinarily talented performers, hailing from across the globe, represent the culmination of a multi-year search to find brilliant and unique artists to bring that world to life anew. The international cast of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series is more than just an ensemble. It is a family. We are thrilled to welcome each of them to Middle-earth."
In related LOTR news, the cast of the original trilogy is trying to save Tolkien's original residence in Oxford, looking to buy it and turn it into a Tolkien centre. Find Ian McKellen's tweet with more details below, and the project's site here.