‘Lord of the Rings’ TV Actor Offers Eye-Opening Insight on Production
It’s become customary for big-budget TV series to stuff their casts with A-listers these days. However, Game of Thrones recently proved that a bunch of character actors and no names can carry a show. Amazon has gone that route with their Lord of the Rings TV series. There isn’t an A-lister to be found in the cast right now.
Little is know about the show itself right now but actor Benjamin Walker recently had a chance to give some insight on the production side of things. Best known for starring in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Walker’s role in Lord of the Rings could be a major springboard. However, he has no idea when he’ll be done working on the show. He couldn’t say too much but divulged that he’s still in New Zealand shooting and isn’t sure when production for the first season will wrap.
“It is a bit nebulous at this point,” Walker told Collider. “We’ve been here a long time and they’ll let us go when they’re done with us.”
Lord of the Rings is set to be the most expensive show in history so Amazon isn’t going to take any shortcuts in production. It’s going to be a long process but the show has to be a hit.
Walker Talks Audition Process
The Lord of the Rings show could end up being one of the biggest in history if it turns out good. The property hasn’t been milked like many others due to how particular the Tolkein Estate can be. Naturally, there will be a lot of pressure on the actors to succeed. Walker admitted that he was hesitant to join the project.
“It was a long audition process, and then I didn’t hear from them for a few months,” Walker said. “I mean the whole world was struggling to figure out what we were going to do next at that point. And then one of the showrunners, J.D. [Payne] called me and he pitched the part and pitched the commitment, which is large. And I could hear on the phone that there was a PA system and a lot of noise in the background, and I still wasn’t sure. And I said, ‘J.D. where are you?’ And he said, ‘I’m in the hospital.’ And I said, ‘Are you okay?’ and he goes, ‘No. My wife’s having a baby.’”
Payne’s commitment proved to Walker that he should join the show.
“He’s got the level of commitment you’re going to need to get this show to be where it should be. It would be a huge mistake to not take part.”
