Charlie Vickers had the difficult task of playing Halbrand in season one of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and in his interview with Polygon, talks about what is to come in season two.
Spoiler Alert: There will be spoilers for the first season so stop reading or come back later if you don’t want to see any spoilers. Otherwise continue on.
Charlie Vickers Talks About Sauron
Halbrand plays a crucial part in the first season as he has a mysterious past and aids Galadriel in her hunt for Sauron. Little does she know that Halbrand is the one who she is after. That makes Vickers job twice as difficult because he has to play two characters at once without giving two much away.
He did an amazing job as Halbrand. The writing made his reveal not as big or surprising as it should have but that’s Amazon for you. Vickers discusses his motivations as Sauron and let’s us see how he approaches the character.
“…I think he’s motivated to heal Middle-earth,” Vickers said. “And he talks about in the last episode, when Morgoth was defeated, “It was like a great clenched fist and released its grasp from my neck. And then I realized I have to undo all the pain that I caused” — something along those lines. And I think he’s trying to heal Middle-earth from the destruction that it’s had over the First Age, to rehabilitate and reorganize it. While these things are a product of what happened in the First Age, and then what’s happened in the Second Age, I also think that he’s had these things built into his being, his personality. This desire for perfection. It’s craftsmanship.”
Some of the Inspiration for Sauron
Vickers also discusses his inspiration for Halbrand and mentions another Amazon show, The Boys.
“I did find a lot of inspiration in other performances as well, watching different actors play villains. […] While we were doing this show I was watching The Boys, and Antony Starr did such an amazing job with Homelander,” Vickers saud. “There was an element of things that are going forward with the character. And then in that last scene with Galadriel he has something scary that just sits beneath the surface of what he’s doing. So I was inspired by that. And he has the manipulation without it, most of the time, without being unhinged. I think that’s interesting with Sauron because a lot of villains have this capacity for being really scary in the sense of there’s something out of control. Whereas Sauron is all about control. And there might be elements of his personality where he loses control, because of the circumstances that he’s come across in the First Age, but his manipulation comes through seduction and gaining trust of the people that he comes across. And so it’s quite unique to strike that balance, because he’s not your traditional villain like the Joker.”
While Heath Ledger’s Joker is the perfect villain, he would have conquered Middle-earth centuries ago and there would be no show. Homelander is a good choice considering how much manipulation and deception there is in that show.
What to Expect in Season Two of The Rings of Power
When asked about season two of The Rings of Power, Vickers didn’t say much but he did talk about a certain history between two characters. In season two, the show will discuss Sauron and Adar’s relationship and the how Adar “killed” Sauron.
“They have a complex past,” Vickers said. “They have been in conflict for quite a long time now. We see an element of that in the sixth episode. And I think it’s pretty obvious when you watch the show that there’s going to be more of that relationship. We’re going to learn more about it. So I don’t want to speak too much about it, but pretty quickly in the second season, we learn more about that history. But it is complex, and it has deep roots, and I think that will be exposed as the show goes on.”