Every time a script comes in and theres a bit of Elvish, my little heart jumps.
The first few episodes ofThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerintroducea whole fellowship of new faces.
And then there are characters like Elendil.
Lloyd Owen as Elendil in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’.Prime Video
Lloyd Owen plays the stoicNumenoreansea captain, who debutsin the third episode ofThe Rings of Power.If you’ve readJ.R.R.
But whenThe Rings of Powerbegins,Elendil is not yet a myth just a man.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The third episode introduces Numenor, and we finally get to meet Elendil.
How did you want to breathe life into this mythic figure?
He’s a hero archetype.
But Tolkien wrote very little about him.
There are just a few signposts along the way to his death.
The personal and the political are perfectly combined in him.
I love that relationship we see with his children, Isildur and Earien.
Tell me about working with Maxim Baldry and Ema Horvath to figure out that family dynamic.
In fact, that was with all the cast of Numenor because we were new arrivals.
Everybody else had been there about a year when we arrived.
What interested you most about that part of him?
So the history of Galadriel, you would be taught it at school as a young Numenorean.
She’s a like a rockstar, a historical global hero to meet.
That’s one element that Elendil is playing with.
I think that’s the difference between elves and humans.
Because she doesn’t have that, that gives her a different outlook.
That was fascinating to try and put all of that into their initial meeting together.
I think that’s right.
He can’t deny it.
That Elvish connection between them speaks.
I think even him speaking in Elvish cements that quite quickly.
It’s an emotional language.
It’s potentially his mother tongue.
And they can converse that way and deeply undertsand each other.
I think it’s very Tolkienian.
I think he’s not necessarily consciously feeling that with her yet, but it’s definitely instinctive.
He’s drawn to her.
Let’s talk about learning Elvish.
I know you studied with experts and linguists who basically tutored you.
What was that experience like?
It was great, actually.
I’d had this experience of being given words essentially as sounds and trying to make sense of them.
So being given the Elvish was another moment where I recognized this was a similar journey.
Obviously, Tolkien being a philologist, it’s very beautiful to say Elvish.
It’s quite joyful to get your tongue around.
It’s such a beautiful language.
I imagine it’d be pretty fun to speak that way.
Every time a script comes in and there’s a bit of Elvish, my little heart jumps.
My soul sings because I’m like, “Okay, good!
I can get some more of that.”
There’s a great sequence where Galadriel and Elendil ride on horseback to the Hall of Lore.
What do you remember most about filming that?
That was my second shooting day.
I was expecting to do them in order.
I don’t know why I thought that because you never shoot in order.
I’d had three and a half months of horse -iding lessons, three days a week.
So, I really got to know my horse Trinko.
Just to be let loose on that beach was very, very special.
It sounds like preparation was a full-time job.
One day you’re studying Elvish; the next day you’re practicing your horseback riding.
Never the same day twice.
Yeah, let alone all of the stunt training lessons and the sailing we talked about.
There’s a lot to learn, which is great for neuroplasticity because my brain is still developing.
[Laughs]
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
