Charlotte, Trystan, Cynthia: Cast of 'Rings of Power' Season 2 on character complexity, Balance

Introduction thank you I thought a lot about how once her vision is taken away uh it's a very isolated place to be it's a very lonely place to be and there are very few people in her orbit that she can even really sort of confide in and Trust so there is that self-reliance but it all kind of goes within sometimes you have to condense you know you have to bring like present fans on the journey with you and and new fans as well and I think the way to do that is is to you know not be rigid I think with the sometimes as as ging as that can be sometimes for for present fans but you have to you have to stay true to the themes I shot the first moment when she realized she was blind and the most important thing I remember talking to Cynthia about that is that she should never feel sorry for herself yeah I remember we did have that idea and that was she was strong right away and that was very important hello everybody I'm Rani and welcome to zoom Speak Easy I'm in Singapore right now to of course interview this fantastic team of rings of power season 2 it only gets more exciting and darker and edgier so I'm going to get all the details right now but it it truly was fun uh to watch Charlotte : I had a lot of fun with Season 2 because it was more dramatic and every character is nuanced. No character is completely good or evil the two episodes uh you know last night obviously the world is really getting more interesting uh my first question to you Charlotte is that um I was just discussing this with JD as well I think it becomes more interesting not just for the actors but also for you and JD when the world gets darker because you know there's so much more gray elements to play with and anything can happen a how did you kind of incorporate with that and how did you have fun with it actually I had a lot of fun with it I think it was great to be able to do a season that was more dramatic because once it's set up you can really dig into the characters and what I very much like about JD's writing too is that every character is nuanced there is nobody who is really completely good or evil even saon in the very beginning he he maybe he wanted to do good when he made the old man on the road and they were Crossroads and he goes on the ship and then he changes his mind and he takes the thing away from him and and then uh basically let it happen so so I feel like no it's a very exciting season uh could you also tell me Shala that um you know the Book Lovers and all of them have always said that um you know we want to see a little bit more of the book while the cinema lovers have said we want to see that now that you're in the season 2 was it kind of a challenge to make sure okay I'm going to do what I want to do because you know you all have discussed that but also maybe taking a little listen to the little bit of criticism that we might have gotten season one and let's see what we can do with that I think it's you know there's so much in the book to to say just I mean there's so much in the book so it's not about the fact that you want to say something more specifically I'm for we I think we're doing uh I mean you had like a good answer for that oh yes absolutely so yeah Trystan : We also want new fans to join in , so there is balance with the material from the book and the new things . We can’t be rigid with dates yet stay true to Tolottelkien’s themes it's like with the um I guess with with all that's going on in the books and stuff you know there has to be some sort of allowance rtistic license you know because it's so vast it's so huge and there's so much to flesh out as well with the dates that it would take you such a long time you know so sometimes you have to condense you know you have to bring like present fans on the journey with you and and new fans as well and I think the way to do that is is to you know not be rigid I think with the dates sometimes as as calling as that can be sometimes for for present fans but you have to you have to stay true to the themes of like you know what tolkin is about and stuff the the theme of you know we're all scared of death we all don't know why we're in this world and where are we going and I think if you stay true to those then you know people can relate to that and those are the themes that people want to want to watch I think because this series is very different from Peter Jackson's films because it's a different thousands of years before it's setting up a different world it goes more into the characters so it's it's uh and as you said there is so much in the book there is room for much more you know Cynthia I I think it's so uh it's challenging but I also love the way that uh the blindness is not used as a weakness for Cynthia : I was sure that I want my character to project leadership while dealing with her blindness. Once her vision is taken away, it gets very lonely for her and she can only trust a few your character but I also see that it can be challenging when you want to be more dramatic because you have to use your other senses that are sharper for your character tell me how did you kind of navigate through that and incorporate that because you know in season two now she's kind of used to it but then you know how does that pose more of a problem for her yeah I mean I always thought about the idea of she has to be a sort of uh you know um um project leadership she has an awareness of the perception of of how she is viewed with this blindness and in terms of the blindness you know to me there was U an acceptance of that situation rather quickly a and so it's sort of in within newor this is a Terrain that she knows intimately and knows well she's able to walk the the the streets and the land with some ease but really I I I thought a lot about how once her vision is taken away uh it's a very isolated place to be it's a very lonely place to be and there are very few people in her orbit that she can even really sort of confide in and Trust so there is that self-reliance but it all kind of goes within so you know I I I loved that as a challenge and I felt it was very very important to make sure that she she was not diminished and it wasn't viewed as this sort of disability that it was really about an accepted condition that she was working her way through and I want to add something about that is that she's a very strong woman and when and I actually shot we we established her blindness in season one I shot the first moment when she realized she was blind and the most important thing and I remember talking to Cynthia about that is that she should never feel sorry for herself yeah I remember we did have that idea and that was she was strong right away and that was very important of course I'm going to do a fun segment now but just before that in just one line answer if you give me any of you uh of course you trusted uh gadriel I mean your character had so much faith in the elves but it's kind of a different world now do you think it's only going to get scarier and it's going to get weirder between the two clans if I can say so um I mean it's definitely going to get scarier uh for sure and I think you know for numor specifically you are definitely going to see again this sort of uh this split of people who are we'll call it almost pro- elf and anti-elf I mean it's not quite that simplistic but you know numenorians are descended from elves there's a faithful uh you know again world view and then there are people who are much more about man and innovation of man and moving forward and leaving all that old stuff behind all right this is going to be a fun segment I call this guess who I'm going to tell you dialogues and you have to just pick your hand if you know who the person is saying it and which season okay you'll have to just do this are are we ready for it ready sh looking very confident ready okay okay here we go you don't have the look of someone to whom things happen by accident which character says this now I know it's I know it's about HAL brand he says with the confidence is it goodness you didn't right it's it's it's gadriel tobr very very good well done okay okay of course season one obviously super fun here okay give me another please of course I knew you going to kill it I'm here you're not going to get one in no I'm sure you would I'm rooting for you come okay no matter okay here we go no matter the sorrow no matter the cost not all those who Wonder or wonder are lost poppy proud fellow yeah kind of give it to you it's basically the half foots who are singing there Wonder along the way but I'll give it to you fair enough they sing it in second give her as well she's giving me more no okay you already give me the point you come on this is where the true colors come out this is this is where the true colors come out right I think an alliance needs to be happen Okay let's go are we good very simple one nothing is evil in the beginning let let's give the ladies one chance and then I you this when we embarass I'm going I'm going to time it for you you've got 10 seconds okay then he saying it it's very very simple it's nothing is evil in the big and that's actually tolkin I mean that's like the theme of the whole season so do you know it Charlotte Charlotte do you know it who said it no which character no so uh anybody wants to give it a shot nothing is evil in the beginning nothing is evil in the beginning is um is uh was it gadriel yes you're right begin okay just remember last one we've done there can be no trust between hammer and rock okay well that feels like that has to be Juran yes you right you're right I want it's not bad that we have a winner Tristan but the ladies have come close enough so thank you that was great thank you I hope had fun I enjoyed that could you just look into the camera and say Namaste India thank you Nam Namaste India thank you so much [Music] [Music]