EXCLUSIVE: Maxim Baldry & Sophia Nomvete Chat Season 2 of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to premiere its second season this coming Thursday, August 29 on Prime Video. To celebrate, we sat down with two of the stars of the series, Maxim Baldry and Sophia Nomvete.
During the chat, the two talked filming the second season, their experience at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, filming difficult scenes as their characters, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.
Are there more arguments in the second season between Princess Disa and Prince Durin IV?
Sophia Nomvete: “That pesky husband of mine. Yeah, you can see a lot more of that. We are so pleased that the union has had such wonderful feedback. That couple that everyone can relate to. So you see more of that, but inevitably, season two, the stakes are so much higher. Those arguments that they’re tit-for-tat before, but they’re carrying much more weight now. And you can still see so much love between them. They love each other dearly and they love their kingdom, but there’s just that constant, ‘How do we do this, how do we do…’”
Do you feel like you got to know your character more in the second season?
Maxim Baldry: “Obviously, you get to know your character more as you live with it. It was a very physical season for him [Season 1]. He was just constantly thrown around in the mud. And I think with that, you just sort of… In the same way you were talking about the way that you embody a role, I felt like I embodied him a bit. I was thrashed around and thrown around. And I think that just reflected his desperate state as it’s a story of survival for him. He’s abandoned in Middle Earth, and he has to find a way to get home. In the process he finds people that he has to learn whether to trust or not, maybe falls in love. I don’t know. He has to make that decision and come to that realization, so I found it to be a big progression in his character and my understanding of him as well.”
Sophia Nomvete: “Yeah, I think season one was a lot of establishments in terms of physical establishment. What do they even look like, particularly for this dwarf who’s new to the world of television. It was lots of establishments, lots of work, lots of physical work, vocal work, accent work. I think we’ve got to a point now where it was received so well by everyone, but also by ourselves. It felt absolutely right for the people that are playing the characters. And so, what we could do this season is just run with it. We discovered new things along the way, but the core, the heartbeat of the culture of the dwarf was established and we loved it, and it felt really right. And so, we could take that, pocket it and just expand on it for season two.”
How did your experience at Comic-Con this year differ from your first experience two years ago?
Maxim Baldry: “Better.”
Sophia Nomvete: “Yeah, better. Still a bit nerve wracking.”
Maxim Baldry: “Still a bit nerve wracking, but I think it was a sense of, we’ve done this before, we know this- “
Sophia Nomvete: “We know what to expect.”
Maxim Baldry: “I think a show that hasn’t come out and you’re promoting it, no one really knows the tone of it. Now we can finally respond to people who have watched it and it’s been a real… I honestly find it so wonderful just singing… We were just signing photos for people just before and it was just so great to hear their take on the characters. Yeah, it was a very blessed thing.”
Sophia Nomvete: “Because we make this show. We make this show, and we finished making this show a year ago, over a year ago. But we have no notion. We put everything into it, and we work so hard, as does the crew and the showrunners and the producers and everyone that’s attached to it, put so much, but we have no response. We have no idea. And so suddenly you come to a place like this, and you are welcomed by everybody that we’re doing it for, and the response is so positive and so wonderful, and you forget that there’s people who know you and know that… We’re just immersed in the craft. But then there’s people that invested in these characters and you get to see the fruits of your work really unfold. And after such a long way, it’s like, ‘Yes. Oh, I remember. Oh yes, I did do that. I did do.’ There’s something very, very beautiful about Hall H. It’s a celebration that we long for once we finish.”
Were you at all surprised by how passionate the fans have responded to the show?
Sophia Nomvete: “I’m an artist and if there’s not discussion, we’re not doing the right thing. I don’t think there is anything really in the world that when it’s art that can be universally liked by everyone. [No one] thinks exactly the same. How dull would that be? I love the fact that there’s discussion. I love the fact that there’s a struggle for some people in how to receive what we’re doing. It’s our job to create an authentic story and put it out into the world. The positive feedback and the love that we get is so wonderful. But also, audiences that may struggle with the story or the choices that we make, it’s also really valuable. It’s a melting pot of ideas and imagination and talking and everyone receives information and story in different ways. I thrive with all of it and love all of it. And I just think it would be really dull if it was one opinion across the board.”
Can you talk about how difficult it is to play a dwarf?
Maxim Baldry: “The scale work.”
Sophia Nomvete: “The scale work. Yeah, that’s quite intense. It’s quite intense because I’m playing very serious scenes to a tennis ball in the sky.”
Maxim Baldry: “I’m so not jealous of that. Do you have to film it twice?”
Sophia Nomvete: “Yeah, many, many times.”
Maxim Baldry: “And do you have to lock all the movements so you can’t change it?”
Sophia Nomvete: “Yeah, you can’t change anything. So once a movement is locked, you can’t change it. Once everything’s set technically with cameras, et cetera, there is no room for play in terms of now I’ve decided that I’m just going to do this. You can’t do that. You are locked in. It’s this chorographical, technical way, but then you are having to portray the artistry and the story and make sure that you are giving as much tenderness or love or frustration to a tennis ball and not being able to look to the left as you would if you’re… You know what I mean? It’s a skill. It is definitely a very cool skill that I’ve learned. But yeah, it has its challenges sometimes. I quite liked it. Better a tennis ball than Prince Durin. No, I’m kidding.”
What’s been your favorite part about filming this second season?
Maxim Baldry: “Probably having a shower after a very long day. No, I really enjoyed doing some stunts. I think for the first time I had to get into the stunt gym and go flying on some wires. I got stuck in some wires myself and I was like, ‘How do you do this? I hope I don’t break my back.’ But yeah, I just really enjoyed being active and in nature. I think that for the first time in the season I didn’t shoot in a studio. I was always outside.”
And speaking of action, the spiders are back.
Maxim Baldry: “Spiders are back.”
Can you take us behind the scenes of shooting that scene?
Maxim Baldry: “Actually that was the only day that I was shooting in a studio.”
With a tennis ball?
Maxim Baldry: “With a rugby ball, actually.”
Sophia Nomvete: “They changed his ball.”
Maxim Baldry: “With two guys in morph suits holding sticks for the length of the spider. But yeah, that was really claustrophobic, dark, wet, muddy. Muddy is the operative word here. And it was just bizarre because it was so small and somehow, they had to get my horse, Barrack, in there, so I don’t quite know how they got a horse into that set. It was so claustrophobic. So, the poor horse must have been like, “’Damn. Tight in here.’”
How do you not laugh when you see people in morph suits?
Maxim Baldry: “I do. I do. And I’m really bad.”
Sophia Nomvete: “You would have had to have seen that shoot.”
Maxim Baldry: “To my detriment I laugh a lot on set, and I think the directors get a little frustrated because they’re like, time is literally money on this set.”
Did you do your own stunts?
Maxim Baldry: “I tried to do as much as I can, and I learned how to ride a horse as well. And I was doing a lot of riding this season, which was so much fun. I tried to do as much as I can and then pass it over for the stunt guy who was very brave because they just throw their body around and they somehow don’t break it.”
Make sure to check out the first three episodes when they premiere on Thursday!
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity
Photo credit: Jerod Harris/Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studio