How Michelle Yeoh and Keanu Reeves inspired Rings of Power star's approach to action scenes
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Playing an elf isn't — as one might think — easy work.
Ismael Cruz Córdova and Morfydd Clark quickly found that out on the set of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, where they both play Elven warriors — he as Arondir, a character created for the series, and she as Galadriel, a fan-favorite J.R.R. Tolkien character. On the Amazon Prime Video series, the two find themselves in no shortage of battles in the midst of their personal journies.
"We are playing eternal beings," Córdova explains on EW's The Awardist podcast of his approach to bridging the gap between acting and stunts. "So it has to be the most distilled, precise, elegant version of it, on top of the fact that we are supposed to have superior hearing and eyesight, which would inform your movements greatly... and at the same time you have a poise in terms of what you're doing."
Matt Grace/Prime Video Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ismael Cruz Córdova, and Charlie Vickers on 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'
Córdova says he trained for some 10 months for the episode 6 battle in the Southlands, hoping to do all of the stunts and fighting himself. He found inspiration in two actors known for their own action scenes.
"These roles are difficult enough and challenging enough to ask of you everything that you know, so I wanted to learn everything," he says. "I'm highly inspired by Michelle Yeoh and actors and actresses just like herself. Even Keanu Reeves. Actors that have an incredible movement practice. Keanu, he's amazing."
Clark admits she was worried about one fight in particular but credits the stunt coordinators got instilling her with both the physical and mental skills to master the work.
"I had this two-handed sword fight that they kept talking about. I'm so unambidextrous — I always used to try to write with my left hand and it's just terrible," Clark recalls. "So I was just like, well, there's no way I can do that. I'm just not gonna be able to do that. And the [stunt team] believed in me in a way that kind of makes me emotional because to have like a teacher and a guide that thinks you can do something is amazing."
Matt Grace/Prime Video Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power'
Repetition, she says, was key.
"In the end, I did all that sequence in episode 5, in Númenor," she says, beaming with pride. "I couldn't believe that I did that. ... Unfortunately not a dancer, but it felt like a dance, and to be at that point was just love. It also made me feel so much closer to her, made me believe that I was powerful. And it was just lots of fun to feel swash-buckling."
You can listen to EW Sr. Writer Devan Coggan's full conversation with Córdova and Clark below. In the episode, we also discuss the recent finales of Emmy-winning series Succession, Barry, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Ted Lasso and break down how each could fare this Emmy season.
Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights leading up to all the major award shows.
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