Lord of the Rings TV Series Reveals First Cast Member Markella Kavenagh

The allegedly-exorbitant Lord of the Rings television series from Amazon Prime Video has reached a new tier in the buildup to its production, the selection of its first cast member.

Markella Kavenagh is the inaugural cast member of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings television series, as Variety reports. With the show process still being in early stages, details on Kavenagh’s character are being tightly-kept. However, sources tell the trade that said character will be named “Tyra.”

Kavenagh, a relative newcomer, recently made her onscreen debut in the 2018-launched Australian Stan drama series, Romper Stomper, moving on to her first bit of work with Amazon on the Natalie Dormer-headlined updated adaptation miniseries, Picnic at Hanging Rock, subsequently appearing on the Jenna Coleman-headlined BBC mystery series, The Cry. She’ll next be seen in director Katie Found’s film drama, My First Summer.

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Amazon tweeted maps and teaser lines months ago, hinting that the series will showcase a storyline connected to the One Ring (a.k.a. the Ring of Power), the sinister centerpiece on which the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book trilogy – and director Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning films – were focused. However, a subsequent post was much clearer, confirming that the series will take place during Middle Earth’s Second Age – thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings.

Consequently, the series is expected to depict characters featured in The Fellowship of the Ring’s thousands-of-years-earlier expositional prologue, like royal exiles from the 5-star shaped island of Númenor (and founders of the Kingdom of Gondor), King Elendil and Prince Isildur, as well as Elven king Gil-galad and, perhaps, the in-person – non-giant-flaming eye – manifestation of the One Ring’s malevolent master himself, Sauron.  

While still without a formal title, the Lord of the Rings television series has put together quite the creative coalition, having recently added Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona to occupy the helm for its first two episodes. He is joined by Game of Thrones alumnus Bryan Cogman, who recently became a consultant for the writing team. The writing duo of JD Payne and Patrick McKay were announced for the project back in July 2018.

We will certainly keep you updated on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series as the news arrives!

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Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.