Welsh actress Morfydd Clark is the rising star of Lord of the Rings’ $1billion prequel

You may not have heard of her yet but Morfydd Clark looks set to soon become a household name – although she has admitted the jury is still out on whether this will be for good or bad reasons.

The actress, 33, from Penarth, appeared in psychological horror Saint Maud and as Sister Clara in His Dark Materials but fantasy lovers are on the edge of their seats waiting to see her latest performance in the $1billion Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Clark plays JRR Tolkien’s top elf in the Amazon prequel series, Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett in the original Peter Jackson trilogy.

When first cast in the part, Clark – who grew up helping lambs give birth in Wales – admitted she fainted, and has confessed the role will either make her ‘famous or infamous’. 

Yet the actress may be set for stardom thanks to her role but she comes from a humble background. 

She initially wanted to become a midwife but her ADHD left her struggling in the classroom and getting herself in trouble, and she dropped out of school at just age 16.

While she finds it difficult talking about her diagnosis, which occurred when she seven, she said that ADHD played a huge part in how her life turned out to be, and that she has embraced it. 

Clark worked on her uncle’s farm as a teenager, helping lambs give birth, while also trying out for the British and Welsh national youth theatre.

Acting was the one time the youngster didn’t have to worry about her ADHD and it became a haven for the star.

Although she grew up in Wales, she only moved there when she was two and was actually born in Sweden to a Welsh mother and Scottish father.

However, the only Swedish she knows is ‘there is no toilet paper’, while her time learning Welsh has allowed her to wow an audience at San Diego Comic-Con 2022, as she recited the Welsh alphabet.

Being admitted to the National Youth Theatre. aged 16, was a revelation for Clark, who went on to join the Drama Centre London. 

She explained that her Welsh education, were drama clubs are a part of school life, gave her a head-start in her acting studies.  

She began her career in the early 2010s with small roles in Madame Bovary (2014) and The Falling (2014) before playing Sister Clara in the BBC adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy in 2019. 

That same year, she starred in the psychological horror Saint Maud, where she played the titular character, her performance earning her a nomination for a Rising Star Bafta. 

Her mainstream break came when she was cast in The Personal History of David Copperfield, where she played the love interest and which was also released in 2019. 

Director Armando Iannucci said he was so taken with Clark, he offered her the part  on the spot after the pair had lunch, and commanded her on her comic timing. 

Starring in the Lord of The Rings prequel was a dream come true for Clark, who has admitted she is a ‘really nerdy fan of the films’ and has a ‘huge amount of respect’ for them.

‘There is a strange element to it all,’ she told The Telegraph. ‘You’re either going to be famous or infamous because The Lord of the Rings is so loved and known about.’

When she found out about the role Clark was so surprised that she fainted. 

‘I found out and then I went to a screening and Q&A for David Copperfield,’ Clark told Variety. ‘I suddenly realised what a big deal it was for me, and I passed out during the Q&A. I was caught by a lovely security guard.’

The actress admitted that scoring the role of elfin princess Galadriel in the new Lord of Ring installment has expected the reasonable expectations that her parents had of her acting career. 

She explained that for her parents, her playing locally in Cardiff would already have been a career high, let alone a blockbuster Amazon Prime project. 

According to trailers released ahead of the new Lord of Rings series, the Welsh belle holds a key role in the action packed intrigued, although, due to the production’s reliance on CGI, she has not be able to see the finished result yet. 

The series began filming in New Zealand, but shooting was disrupted due to Covid-19. 

Working together during the pandemic brought the cast closer together, according to Clark, who had to contend with being isolated from her family and friends before filming moved to the UK. 

The actress is also aware that fantasy adaptations, including the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, tend to be dominated by white and male actors, and has made it known on her social media she is proud to be part of a more diverse cast that includes women and POC.

And while Cate Blanchett’s interpretation of the previous Lord of the Rings movies was secondary to the male-led intrigue, the Amazon series dives more into the elf’s feisty nature.  

Although she hasn’t revealed too much about the new fantasy, it’s likely Clark will have a high-action role.

In one of the trailers she was pictured in full armour and she has described filming as involving ‘lots of physical energy’.

And, according to her interpret who did extensive research on the role, Amazon’s Galadriel is closer to the Tolkien source material. 

However, Clark explained she is trying not to think of what Cate Blanchett did of the role so it doesn’t affect her version of it. 

The actress is also keen to reflect on the impact of other monuments of pop culture, like Buffy The Vampire Slayer. 

Instead of putting on the 90s’ staple on a pedestal, Clark, who still said she was a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s demon fighting teenager, said she thinks its creator had cultural blind spots and that the show is rife with sexism and makes for an awkward watch in 2022. 

The 33-year-old’s net worth is estimated to be around £2miilion and she lives in Elephant and Castle with her younger sister and her white poodle/bichon dog.

However, although stardom may be just around the corner, she still makes time for her friends in Cardiff who she met at nursery.