Since Peter Jackson became the filmmaker behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and decided to film them in his native country of New Zealand, the country and the franchise have been inexplicably tied. While that tradition continued on the debut season of Rings of Power, Middle-earth was moved to the UK for Season 2 of the Lord of the Rings series. While it feels bittersweet that the show is no longer being shot in New Zealand this time around, Tar-Míriel actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson shared why it was actually a good thing for her scenes.
When CinemaBlend caught up with Cynthia Addai-Robinson over the phone, we spoke about how she approached the queen of Númenór’s blindness and her excitement for Charlie Vickers’ “sexy Sauron.” In addition, I asked her about the move from New Zealand for this season. In her words:
Well, some of the sets, they just literally brought over or were rebuilt so that you could still have the through line of it's still Númenór as you know it, specifically the interiors. For our part of the world this season, we did a bit of location shooting in Tenerife from the Canary Islands which I'm very excited about because Númenór is an island nation, it makes sense that you need to see coastline and something that's almost closer to being the Mediterranean.
Númenór feels like a place off the coast of the Mediterranean, and while Tenerife is off the coast of the Atlantic, it’s an absolutely gorgeous setting that allowed her and the cast to be more immersed in J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision for it. As she continued:
So as lovely as some UK beaches are in the dead of winter, we have this incredible opportunity to go to Tenerife to film there. And nothing beats standing on a rocky shore staring out at the ocean. That is very hard to sort of match in terms of production design and just a feeling you get if you are sort of facing a challenge and feeling literally the ocean spray. It’s sort of minimal acting required, you know? You're tapping into something that's bigger than you. You're tapping into Mother Nature.
When we heard Rings of Power was moving to the UK, it felt like it was a downgrade from the place where all the other Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. Even Elijah Wood published a negative reaction on the news. However, Addai-Robinson’s comments share how the move allowed some settings to evolve in a positive direction. Since UK beaches are infamously bleak, the production moved to Tenerife and it really helped the actress feel like she was really on Númenór. As she also said:
I always love having those chances to use what's happening in real time and use what's happening there. So I think the Númenór stuff that we filmed in Tenerife is pretty spectacular. And I have a very important moment that happens there that they've sort of been teasing in some of the trailers and clips but, I'm excited for people to see how we end up on that rocky coastline.
We know that Tar-Míriel will be returning to Númenór to major disappointment from her people for her decisions to march into battle with Galadriel. Before the elf and Vickers’ Halbrand were saved by a Númenóreann ship, they were a land of men that had not housed or listened to an elf in many, many years. Tar-Míriel took a big chance when she trusted Galadriel into the Southlands battle, but it led to a ton of casualties, and her people will not trust her amid her return.
You can check out the latest Rings of Power trailer to get ready for what’s to come! The first season of Rings of Power is now with an Amazon Prime subscription to binge or rewatch and the season premiere arrives on August 29.
