[Interview] The Rings of Power's Daniel Weyman and Megan Richards

San Diego Comic-Con held some incredible surprises and announcements for fans of all kinds. One of the biggest appearances of the weekend featured the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The large ensemble cast energized Hall H with an exciting panel, which included an exclusive look at season 2. Fans cheered at a glimpse of the creatures set to appear this season, including a young Shelob, an army of Barrow-wights, the Hill-troll Damrod, a Sea Worm, and even Ents! Teases of several major battle scenes, pivotal to Season Two’s storylines, captivated the crowd.

We then had the opportunity to interview some of the cast members, including Megan Richards and Daniel Weyman. Megan Richards (Poppy Proudfellow) and Daniel Weyman (The Stranger) delved into how their characters explored growth and discovery in season 1. They also discussed the connection between their characters and hinted at what might await them in season 2.

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power returns for a second season on August 29th

In Season Two of The Rings of Power, Sauron actively reemerges, driven by his own cunning to regain his strength and oversee the Rings of Power‘s creation. Cast out by Galadriel, he stands alone, devoid of army or ally, yet determined to bend Middle-earth to his sinister will. Furthermore, building on Season One’s epic scope, the new season intensifies the stakes, plunging beloved characters into a rising tide of darkness. Each must confront their vulnerabilities and find their place in a world teetering on the brink of calamity.

From Elves and dwarves to orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots, friendships are tested, and kingdoms begin to fracture. Amidst this turmoil, the forces of good fight valiantly to preserve what matters most: their connection to one another.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to life the heroic legends of Middle-earth’s fabled Second Age. Specifically, this epic drama unfolds thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, transporting viewers to an era where great powers were forged, kingdoms rose and fell, and unlikely heroes faced trials. Hope dwindles as Tolkien’s most formidable villain threatens to engulf the world in darkness.

The first season of The Rings of Power achieved remarkable success, captivating over 100 million viewers worldwide, with more than 32 billion minutes streamed. Moreover, the series garnered over 25 million global viewers on its premiere day, securing the biggest premiere in Prime Video history and debuting as the No. 1 show on Nielsen’s overall streaming chart. In addition to viewership, the show spurred more Prime sign-ups worldwide than any previous content. The season finale sparked a global cultural phenomenon, with series-themed hashtags trending in 27 countries across Twitter for over 426 cumulative hours.

Daniel Weyman and Megan Richards discuss where they left their characters at the end of season 1…

Daniel talks about what it was like to drop from the sky and not know anything. He touches on how he feels about his character’s growth over the first season.

“I think the great thing, as soon as I saw, you know, the familiar friendship faces Meghan and Markella’s characters, Poppy and Nori, that sort of rooted me back in the season one journey and where the stranger got to the end of season one. I think he was pretty confident things had sorted themselves out. I hadn’t really understood it until the very last moment with the staff, and he sort of has this love for the Harfoots and he understands it. And because he feels it, he’s holding this bit of wood that happens to be important. It’s a conduit to energy through the system and everything works. And I think he goes. Solved it. And off he goes on this lovely adventure with Nori. And he just thinks it’s going to be fantastic. He thinks he’s going to find the stars and everything else.” -Daniel Weyman

Daniel Weyman as The Stranger Credit: Ben Rothstein / Prime Video

Season 1 ended with everyone going on their separate journeys Megan Richards and Daniel Weyman talk about whether or not we will see some of these journeys meet.

Megan and Daniel talk about their journeys and whether or not the next phase of it will include any of the other stories that we have seen.

“I mean, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we did? Yeah, I think that would be great. I do really enjoy that. There are a lot of meetings that happen. There are a lot of meetings that happen, but they’re not necessarily people that we’ve seen.” -Megan Richards

“Yeah. Yeah. There may be some. Yeah. Some faces. So that’s exciting. And also in, like, completely unknown lands anyway, they don’t know where they are or what they’re doing. and so they don’t know the rules of the room, but it definitely feels like a game. And they don’t know how to play it. and so then when they meet, when they come across new beings, it feels very flappy.” – Daniel Weman

Megan Richards and Daniel Weyman also gave us a little insight into season 2 and what might be in store for them…

The actors discuss their characters’ journeys, emphasizing the importance of focusing on the present rather than trying to predict the future. They acknowledge the uncertainty of their characters’ paths, mirroring the overall theme of the series. The actors also express their enjoyment of the journey and the opportunity to grow alongside their characters.

“Yeah. It feels even strangers begin to understand the half way of life. Yes. And you know, we’re scared of the hunters. We’re scared of, you know, wolves. Wolves running out food. We need water. We need food, but there’s just these other beings we meet in these other communities that we meet, and we know nothing about how they play, how far we even go.” – Megan Richards

“It’s like you can’t see the end of it. Yeah. Which I think is quite a nice metaphor, actually, for the whole series. You don’t know where anything’s going to end up. I mean, I suppose what I do is pose the question to you about what you know about your life when you leave here tonight. Where are you going? What are you doing? How far do you know what your life is? Because what I feel is, I sometimes. I sometimes think I know what’s going to happen. I walk out the door, and somebody offers me to go to dinner. I go to dinner, I meet somebody I’ve never met, you know, suddenly something’s happening. It’s all new. So I think that there’s always this love of trying to predict the future. And actually, I think the answers are in the present for us. Here are the answers on this journey and room, because we’re going to find out some extraordinary stuff when we’re going to have to see each other working in ways that we never thought, you know, dreamed we’d be in, you know?” – Daniel Weyman

Megan Richards as Poppy, Markella Kavenagh as Nori, Credit: Ross Ferguson / Prime Video

“I don’t want to give too much away about those things, but it feels to me like that’s the essence of like, be, be in the present in season two. Let’s stick with what’s happening here, because this is where the answers are going. Yeah. I mean, and also that’s how you as an audience will be following them too. Like her personal growth journey continues. Okay. Seen so much of a journey in season one. But it really, I think begins to expand into other elements of her life that she’s not been able to explore before. and you definitely I think we made a conscious effort to, to really establish the fact that she is growing. I’ve never experienced, I’ve never had the experience as an actor of sort of growing with another character and returning for a second season, for example. So it was really nice to be able to do that. So that was my own actual growth and, and working like this alongside, Poppy’s growth too. But yeah, there’s a lot of growing.” -Megan Richards

Daniel Weyman Reflects on the Profound Connection in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2.

Daniel Weyman reflects on the profound connection between the characters in ‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2, particularly highlighting the trio’s shared journey of self-discovery and growth. He notes the “wonder” and sense of completeness in experiencing this journey together, emphasizing the deep connection fostered by their shared goal and similar developmental stage. This shared pursuit to understand themselves and their place in the world, Weyman suggests, is what binds these characters so securely and equally.

“You know, it was fun being around that conversation and then realizing that it actually applies. It applied to the stranger as well. You know, this young in a way, is. Yeah, there’s that sort of wonder. Yeah. It was really cool. And it’s quite nice to experience that for the characters together, because the journey feels complete, especially as the journey begins, trying to search for the answer to that one question, which is “who is the stranger? That’s a really good point, I think, because I’ve been trying to work out why does the friendship of these three feels so secure? And so, what’s the right word? Equal? Yeah, yeah. I wonder if you’ve hit on it. Is that actually in terms of developmentally, they’re pretty much at the same, you know, on a similar level. They share a common goal to, to, to grow, you know, to, to to to to, yes, suck them out of life and in the same sort of way. And maybe that’s yeah, maybe that’s what connects them so deeply” – Daniel Weyman

Megan Richards and Daniel Weyman deeply connect with their characters, and their performances truly reflect that. Furthermore, showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay lead the production of the second season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” They collaborate with executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, and Gennifer Hutchison, alongside co-executive producer and director Charlotte Brändström. In addition, the team also features producers Kate Hazell and Helen Shang, and co-producers Clare Buxton, Andrew Lee, Glenise Mullins, and Matthew Penry-Davey. Finally, Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hooper direct additional episodes in Season Two.

So, don’t miss the season two premiere of “The Rings of Power” on Prime Video tomorrow, August 29th. The first three episodes drop tomorrow, followed by a weekly release schedule for the rest of the season.