The Rings of Power star reveals when he found out he was playing Sauron

Full spoilers follow for The Rings of Power Episode 8.

The actor who plays Sauron in The Rings of Power has revealed that he didn’t learn his character’s real identity until he filmed the show’s third episode.

Ever since the high-fantasy, big-budget Prime Video series aired on September 2, fans have been wondering when the Dark Lord would appear and, once he did, which actor would play the main villain of Lord of the Rings. . Now that The Rings of Power Episode 8 is out, we finally have the answer.

Big spoilers to follow for The Rings of Power Season 1 Finale. Now turn back if you haven’t watched it yet.

Halbrand, who has been played by Charlie Vickers since Episode 2, has always been Sauron. As it turns out, the alleged heir to the Southlands throne — and the characters of The Rings of Power, particularly Galadriel — has long been deceiving viewers.

Still, the time Halbrand has spent pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes is nothing compared to the two-and-a-half-year secret Vickers and the rest of the cast have had to keep. In early October, Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) and Tyroe Muhafidin (Theo) exclusively told TechRadar that they knew who Sauron was. Now that Halbrand’s real identity has been revealed, everyone involved in the show’s production can breathe a sigh of relief, especially Vickers.

So, when did the Medici actor hear that he would be playing the most iconic Lord of the Rings antagonist? Not for a while, actually. Vickers, who originally auditioned for the part of half-elf Elrond, was kept in limbo until filming of the Prime Video show was well underway.

“I had a hunch for a while,” Vickers told Ditching exclusively prior to the release of episode 8. “I didn’t figure out that I was specifically playing Sauron for a while — it didn’t get to me until a few months before we started filming.” from the third episode. So that scene in episode 2, when I was introduced to the raft, I didn’t know.”

Clark, who spends much of her time acting opposite Vickers’ Halbrand in Season 1, also didn’t know which character was disguised. That was until production began in Episode 3, when Galadriel and Halbrand arrive in Númenor after being rescued from the Sundering Seas by Elendil and his crew.

“We didn’t know until we got to Númenor,” Clark revealed exclusively for the launch of pre-episode 8. “Then it was kind of fun to see when the showrunners and writers were inputting these little clues.

“And I’ve missed quite a few now, I’m watching it again! I hadn’t realized you never see Halbrand sleeping. One of his first lines to Galadriel is ‘appearances are deceiving’, which is the most obvious clue It was really fun playing a character that I never expected to play, and Charlie found that he was playing someone he didn’t expect either, who we’ve barely seen in this form, it was exciting to see that to endure together.”

Charles Edwards, who plays Celebrimbor, only found out about Halbrand’s real identity after he was cast. Though Edwards didn’t join the show’s ensemble until July 2021, replacing Tom Budge as the elvensmith after Budge’s departure.

“Even then, it was still little references here and there,” Edwards explained. “For a long time, a lot of people really didn’t know, so it was gossip or asking each other ‘Have you heard about so-and-so?’

“But the first time I met Charlie, someone already let me know who he could play. I said to him, ‘I think you and I are going to do a lot of things together’ and he replied, ‘Yes, I think we are’ – and then nothing was said for months!

As the main villain of Lord of the Rings, there is an unsurprisingly certain level of expectation fans have of Sauron. However, Vickers doesn’t feel the pressure to bring such a daunting character to life in Amazon’s Lord of the Rings, although he understands that not everyone will be thrilled with his portrayal.

“I know how important this character is to a lot of people,” he said. “And I feel very privileged and honored to have the chance to bring him to life. It’s very cool. But of course I know that people have high expectations and I can’t really control people’s minds. I found a lot comfort in the source material and read and learn as much as possible. All I can do is put my heart and soul into it.”

For more exclusive coverage of The Rings of Power, read how the show’s second episode almost inadvertently ruined the big Sauron reveal, or read what we know about The Stranger now.