See Cate Blanchett’s Replacement In Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series

And while viewers might get discouraged about not seeing familiar faces like that of Cate Blanchett, the time and effort put into making the new series, much like Jackson once did, is a point in the right direction.

By Erika Hanson | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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After five long years, fans of the cherished Lord of the Rings franchise can at last feast their eyes on the first images from the highly anticipated and most expensive TV series landing on Amazon Prime video this coming September. The Rings of Power will take viewers back to the untold stories of the Second Age of Middle-Earth–long before Frodo and Sam were a figment of Hobbits’ imaginations. While fans shouldn’t expect to see fan-favorites like the Sindar Elf Legolas appear in the upcoming series, Galadriel, the high-elf famously portrayed in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies by Cate Blanchett, will play a pivotal role in the upcoming series. Now, Vanity Fair shares some first look set photos of the new starlet set to play the ethereal elf. 

See the new Galadriel in the picture below.

lord of the rings
Vanity Fair, Galadriel, Commander Of The Northern Armies

Galadriel, the royal elf of both Noldor and the Teleri will be portrayed by the young Welsch actress Morfydd Clark. At first appearance, the young actress looks to be significantly younger than Cate Blanchett who first brought Galadriel to life on the big screen. However, at 30 years of age at the time filming began, Clark is actually the same age Blanchett would have been when she first portrayed the elf. The two actresses have plenty of similarities and features uniting the actresses on the looks of Galadriel, but there are also notable differences. 

cate blanchett lord of the rings
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel

In Vanity Fair’s set images from The Rings of Power, Galadriel definitely looks younger, as she should. Set in the Second Age, Galadriel, an eternal elf, would have been nearly 3,000 years younger than when Cate Blanchett played her in the trilogy. Still showcasing Galadriel’s iconic long blonde locks, Morfydd Clark’s portrayal of the elf depicts Galadriel in a different light. With a more stoic, fierce look, the younger Galadriel appears more tenacious than the Lady of the Woods of Lothlórien who was powerful and wise from her years on Middle Earth.

rings of power amazon
Vanity Fair

While fans can’t expect to see either Cate Blanchett or Hugo Weaving reprise their roles as the high elves, Galadriel will be joined by other elves in the new series, both familiar and not. Elrond, the Lord of Rivendale famously portrayed by Hugo Weaving will also appear in The Power of the Rings. Played by Robert Aramayo, a name and face fans might remember for portraying the young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones will take on the role. 

Elves won’t be the only focus in the new series, which will juggle 22 stars with plenty of differing storylines. The dwarfs deep within the mines of the Misty Mountains and the humans of Numenor will also be showcased. And as the story takes place 3,000 years before the Fellowship first left Rivendale, the focus of the series will be on the origin story of the ring that started it all. Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has a lot of pressure preparing to bring the popular fantasy world back to life for the first time since Peter Jackson last successfully launched the franchise. And while viewers might get discouraged about not seeing familiar faces like that of Cate Blanchett, the time and effort put into making the new series, much like Jackson once did, is a point in the right direction. Hopefully it means that The Rings of Power will bring the next big fantasy feature since Game of Thrones to television.