The Rings of Power: the new face of Adar emerges

Taking up the torch, Sam Hazeldine teases his arrival in the adventures of Middle Earth.

After the surprising announcement introducing Tom Bombadil, one of the emblematic characters of the original work of Tolkien and largely forgotten in the adaptations, it is the turn of another figure this time already known to viewers of the series to reveal himself. In the first season, Adar, the Elf who became Orc, led his army of fellows to the Southern Lands protecting them from Sauron and the Elves, and thus proclaimed himself in the finale, master of these lands which he had renamed Mordor. Formerly played by Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark in Game Of Thrones), it is ultimately Sam Hazeldine (Sandman) who reprises the role for season two of Rings of Power – as was already announced in 2022.

Rings of Power: Adar recast for season 2

Although there is always a risk when recasting a character central to the plot, Hazeldine's first appearance as Adar, visible briefly in the trailer, showed similar but more elaborate makeup. In total, seven hours of makeup were necessary to achieve this result. The actor, happy to take the torch from a friend with whom he has already collaborated, also wanted to reassure the skeptics: “Of course, we don't look alike, but the character is recognizable at first glance.”

In his first interview for The Rings of Power given to Entertainment Weekly, Sam Hazeldine delivered some elements about his filming experience and his character in the next season. On his first day on set, the actor remembered:

“There were about two hundred Orcs in the room and they were all making some sort of growling noise. It's a bit unsettling to see so many people in one place, and also intimidating. It helped a lot to remember that I wasn't crazy and they were just normal people.”

His greatest difficulty, he explained, was mastering the language spoken by Sauron, some Orcs and later the Nazguls. In this second season, Adar will receive the call of adventure now that his mission is accomplished in Mordor:

“For me, the appeal was that he's a dark character, but he doesn't see himself as a bad guy. He's just trying to protect his children, the Uruk. So he does what he thinks is right. best thing to do to save them from genocide, whether from Sauron, who sees them as cannon fodder, or from the elves.”

Although the trailer only reveals crumbs of what awaits viewers and particularly regarding the Orcs' narrative arc, Hazeldine teased a return to the origins for Adar – which implies that we will see how he became what he is – as well as a confrontation with the Dark Lord.

Also, just like the entire cast for a while now, the Briton has repeated how dark this second season will be…. Even bloody: