I’d imagine, that if basically anyone came into contact with a ring of power, they’d hope they had it in them to throw it into Mount Doom. However, sadly, they carry an irresistible power that can corrupt even the most chivalrous and leave them saying “My precious.” So, with Rings of Power Season 2’s premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, and with said rings in play, I had to ask the cast about which LOTR character they’d act the most like if they came into contact with one. And basically, all of them answered with…Gollum.
Now, that response was shocking, however, I get why basically all of them went there. So, let’s break it down.
Basically Everyone Answered With Gollum
Right when I asked the question, Celebrimbor actor Charles Edwards’ immediate response was:
Probably Gollum.
Then, his co-star Charlie Vickers, who is the man behind Sauron, added to the conversation that he’d probably “become overpowered by it quite quickly,” which Edwards agreed with. While Vickers’ initially joked that he’d be like Sauron since that is who he plays, he then actually answered the question with Gollum. That led to the following light-hearted back and forth as they landed on this conclusion:
Charles Edwards: Like Gollum.
Charlie Vickers: Yeah. The answer is both of us.
Charles Edwards: We’re both Gollums.
That general sentiment of being corrupted by the power ran through the cast. Markella Kavenagh, AKA Nori Brandyfoot, also told me she’d probably end up like Andy Serkis’ character:
Why do I think it’d be like Gollum? I think I would just become so… Because it's difficult, right? It's difficult to, kind of, ignore and dismiss the power of the Ring.
While her co-star Daniel Weyman, who plays The Stranger, didn’t name a character per se, he did have a similar instinct about how he’d react. He explained he’d probably “unfortunately” be “corrupted by any ring.”
Along the same lines, Benjamin Walker, who is High King Gil-galad, immediately called out Gollum too.
So many of them were quick to jump to the conclusion that the ring would consume them and they’d end up in a cave saying “my precious.” However, a pair of actors from the cast had other answers at first before admitting just how terribly powerful that jewelry is.
Even The Actors Who Had Different Answers Admitted How Tempted They'd Be By The Ring
Both Morfydd Clark, she’s Galadriel, and Sam Hazeldine, who took over playing Adar in Season 2’s Rings of Power cast, had different answers to this question…at first.
Hazeldine started by throwing it back to The Fellowship of the Ring, telling me he’d react similarly to Boromir (Sean Bean). He explained his choice further by saying:
I mean, I love that in the world and in Tolkien's world that the power of the Ring, you just don't know what it's going to feel like ‘til you get it. And you think, ‘Oh, well, I'm just going to take it and carry it to somewhere.’ But it's got you in its clutches already, you know, it's so powerful.
In Fellowship Boromir is tempted by the ring, and he tells Frodo he wants to use it to save people. His look of interest and borderline corruption is fascinating. However, the Adar actor also acknowledged that you don’t really know how you’d react to something “so powerful.”
Meanwhile, Morfydd Clark name-dropped Rings of Power’s latest addition Tom Bombadil, saying:
I think I really relate to where they're like, ‘Maybe we should leave it with Tom Bombadil. It doesn't seem to affect him at all.’ And they're like, ‘He’d just lose it.’ That's unfortunately what I think I’d be.
However, she also quipped at the very end:
Or Gollum.
So, it seems that all roads lead to Gollum. It feels a bit shocking that they wouldn’t say Frodo or Isildur or even one of the other more heroic albeit flawed ring bearers. However, I get why they chose the cave-dwelling creature, and two other members of the cast gave a more in-depth explanation as to why.
Why The Rings Could Turn Anyone Evil According To Benjamin Walker And Ismael Cruz Córdova
There’s a deep reason behind all these answers that led to Gollum, and Benjamin Walker explained it. After saying he’d probably act like Smeagol, he broke down why, telling me:
I mean, I think the reality of… If you really know the lore, it's a bit of, ‘There but for the grace of Tolkien go I.’ Evil is so formidable and so embedded in all of us. And I think... I mean, we see it with the elves. It's arrogant to assume that we, too, would throw it into the fire.
Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays Arondir, had a similar reaction. He told me that the “true power” of the rings is so strong that “it’s inevitable almost” to lean into the “evil.” The actor then said that the most evil beings are the ones who think they’re solving a problem, which is what many of the ring-bearers think they’re doing:
And even, the thing is, the definition of evil, you know, it’s like evil... good. You're always thinking that the problem is that you're thinking you're doing absolute good. So even when you think that you're doing an absolute good, you will still be veering towards evil. So like, I have power to do this, this and that, to lead, to save, to, you know, you would have eventually become a tyrant.
So, in summary, the cast of Rings of Power taught me that the pull of the rings is unpredictable and deeply corrupted.
We all probably hope we would react like Frodo and actually get to the point of throwing the ring into Mount Doom. However, you can’t predict what will happen, and even the most heroic of characters can react poorly. So, while I was shocked they all went down the Gollum route, it makes a lot of sense.
Now, we’ll get to see how some of these actors’ characters react when they come into possession of the rings when The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns for its second season on August 29. You’ll be able to stream this new season, as well as Season 1, with an Amazon Prime subscription. Meanwhile, if all this Gollum talk got you thinking about “my precious” even more, you can catch the OG trilogy of movies with a Max subscription.
