At Least One Lord Of The Rings Star Enjoyed The Rings Of Power
Lord of the Rings actor Billy Boyd is voicing his love for Amazon's Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power.
In case you haven’t noticed, Lord of the Rings fans are decidedly split on Amazon’s new series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a new take on the earlier era of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic works. Some fans claim it is grossly inferior to Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy, but one cast member from the films, Billy Boyd, disagrees. In a new interview, the actor behind Pippin had nothing but good things to say about the series.
“I have seen it. I liked it very much,” Boyd said, saying that as a fan of Tolkien, he loved seeing some of the settings again, and seeing new ones the films didn’t show. “You know, to see Khazad-dûm and Númenor and all these places. I think that gave me the most joy. I think the way they jump from one place to another made it very watchable for me.”
He admits to reacting with joy when the rings are finally introduced in the season finale, which aired on October 14.
Billy Boyd is talking to the press not about The Rings of Power, but about his return to another movie franchise he was involved with: the Chucky/Child’s Play horror series. Boyd appeared on the season 2 finale of the SyFy series Chucky, the TV spinoff of the movie series. The actor voiced Glen and Glenda (aka G.G.), whom Boyd first voiced in the 2004 Child’s Play sequel Seed of Chucky, but of course, questions about the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Amazon series are a given.
The Rings of Power has impressed with its diverse cast and multiple storylines, which expand the Tolkien universe in ways the films could not. We see how the orcs evolved, and the political infighting among the elves, something the films never had the time to do.
The Scottish actor appeared in all three of the Jackson films, from 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring, to 2002’s The Two Towers, and to the 2003 finale The Return of the King as Peregrin “Pippin” Took. He and Dominic Monaghan’s Merry joined Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) in a quest from the Shire, across Middle Earth, and to Mordor, to destroy the One Ring and break the power of Sauron forever.
In addition to Billy Boyd, the other Hobbit actors have all voiced their support for The Rings of Power at one time or another. The series has been widely criticized on two fronts, from fans who say it is not faithful enough to the Tolkien source material, and from those who dislike what they see as a “woke” approach to casting, which includes having actors of color in traditionally “white” roles.
Although ratings for the first season of The Rings of Power were strong, it has bested by HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon. nevertheless, teh Amazon series is already at work on season two, although a premiere date has not yet been announced. Billy Boyd and his fellow Lord of the Rings actors are sue to be there to lend their support once again.
If you don’t have SyFy, you can catch up on the second season of Chucky, and hear Billy Boyd’s performance, when the series comes to Peacock in the near future.
