Sam Hazeldine and Robert Strange say The Rings of Power season 2 is "definitely darker" (Exclusive)

It's been almost two years since we last watched new episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But don't worry, fellow fantasy fans! The Rings of Power season 2 is almost here. Be sure to mark your calendars for August 29, when the first three episodes will drop on Prime Video.

While we wait, the cast members are here to get us excited. Winter is Coming had the opportunity to chat with the stars of the show in a roundtable interview at San Diego Comic-Con, including newcomers Robert Strange and Sam Hazeldine.

Glug the Orc

Robert Strange plays a new Orc named Glug, who will be Adar's right hand man of sorts. The actor shared that it takes about four-five hours to into all that makeup, attach the prosthetics and put on the costume. It's a real commitment, that's for sure!

"I have to give credit to Lula, our amazing movement director, and Leith, who's the dialect coach, because they really help. We have all these teeth and costume and prosthetics going on. They really help with the accent, with the physicality," said Strange. "I've been lucky enough to play a series of different Orcs through the two seasons, so I want to make them all different. And I'll just kind of try and stay fit and healthy. It's like playing monsters as a child, but as a grown up."

"Glug [is] this new Orc character for season 2, he's kind of one of Adar's inner circle, right hand. But what's fun to explore with Glug, which is something a little bit new, is this concept that Orcs kind of have layers and complexity to them. They're not just warriors bent on evil. They have kind of their own lives going on. They even have families that we're exploring. And then how does that then affect the fact that they are still kind of searching for a home or establishing their home and the fact that they're being sorted left, right, and center, and that they're being sent to war yet again. So it creates an interesting dynamic between Glug and the father of the orcs, Adar."

Meet the new Adar

As mentioned above, Hazeldine is a new actor this season, but he's taking on the role of a character we already know: Adar. In The Rings of Power season 1, actor Joseph Mawle played the role, but he decided to exit the show to pursue other opportunities. So Hazeldine has to try and keep the feel of what Mawle established with the character while also bringing his own interpretation of the corrupted elf and leader of orcs.

"It was actually a real pleasure to take it on from from Joseph. I really liked what he did in the first season, and [he] was actually my favorite character. I think if you were taking over from [someone's] decisions you [didn't] like, that would be difficult," said Hazeldine. "But this was the opposite of that. So it was good. We don't look alike, but it's very clearly the same character. So I think just carrying the baton from there and moving on with it. It was good." 

As their fellow co-stars have echoed in our other interviews (scroll down to the end for links to them all), everyone in The Rings of Power season 2 is reacting to the threat of Sauron. Though these characters are all parts of different stories that don't necessarily intersect, they're all united on this front.

"I think certain characters - I was gonna say from all of the different worlds within the show - have a similar motive, which is to try and work out what to do about the fact that Sauron's returned. And we have to act now, and we have to act quickly," said Hazeldine. "So there's a lot of kind of tentative negotiations between different races, which comes with problems. And that's the main thing that's going on."

The Rings of Power season 2 is "definitely darker"

Becuase of Sauron's increased presence, the actors feel like season 2 is "definitely darker than the first season."

"It's really kind of fast out the gates. We know all of the worlds, all of the characters now. And so it starts very, very powerfully," said Hazeldine. "It's a lot faster moving, I would say, than the first few episodes of the first [season]."

"I think a lot of the characters in all the worlds are finding themselves in more and more complex dynamics and relationships and situations, and we're gonna see them kind of get tested in different ways," teased Strange. "[It's] a race against time with Sauron back, so we have to move quickly," added Hazeldine.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres August 29. The first three episodes will drop all at once on Prime Video.