Amazon’s highly anticipated Lord of the Rings series has officially found it’s leading man…again. Per Deadline, Game of Thrones alum Robert Aramayo, who played young Ned Stark in seasons 6 and 7 of the show, has been cast as the hero and series lead, Beldor. Until recently, veteran actor Will Poulter (Shameless, We’re the Millers) had been the favorite to land the role, but Poulter withdrew from consideration over a scheduling conflict.
Aramayo will join a cast that includes fellow Game of Thrones alum Joseph Mawle (as a villain), Markella Kavenagh, Ema Horvath and Morfydd Clark, who will be playing the elf Galadriel.
The show has already been renewed for a second season. Interestingly, Deadline reports that the series will film the first two episodes of the first season before shutting down for “four to five” months in order to map out the events of season 2. Perhaps that’s what caused the scheduling conflict for Poulter?
In any case, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will bring a Middle-earth to the screen that looks vastly different from the one we saw in Peter Jackson’s pair of film trilogies. Set during the Second Age, the Men of Middle Earth have taken up residence on the Isle of Numenor, while the Elves still maintain control of most of the continent itself. Sauron is lurking about, forging the Rings of Power, but many of the nations and peoples we know aren’t around yet.
They’re still filming in New Zealand, though, because how could you not?
If you’d like to join cast like Aramayo, or just if you’ve never visited New Zealand, the series has periodically been
. We’ll keep an eye out for the next call.
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