‘It helped me a lot’: The Rings of Power’s Celebrimbor actor got a ‘forensic’ crash course in ring-making to improve his character in season 2
The Rings of Power star Charles Edwards has revealed how a five-hour crash course in ring making confirmed he was playing the character right.
Speaking to TechRadar ahead of The Rings of Power When Season 2 dropped on Prime Video, Edwards confirmed that he spent an intensive afternoon learning metallurgy and jewelry making to further delve into his character.
That tutorial, led by Kristie Rickwood, not only gave Edwards a greater appreciation for the “intricate” and “detailed” work that goes into making rings and other jewelry trinkets, but also for the “forensic” way he Lord of the Rings character operates. As the legendary but flawed Elven smith who creates all 17 of the titular rings—13 of which he forges with Sauron in his Annatar guise—Celebrimbor plays an integral role in the Second Age and the entire history of Middle-earth.
“It helped me tremendously,” Edwards admitted when I asked him how his experience making rings influenced how he tackled Celebrimbor in the second season of the Amazon high-fantasy show. “And I’m so glad I did it, because what it showed me was how—I mean, I always had this vision for the character, that he wasn’t a hunk with a hammer, but instead he was much more forensic and detailed.
“I’ve always thought of him as a kind of jeweler who spends a lot of time leaning or hunched over a workbench. So when I had this class, that’s exactly what it was like, and it emphasized to me how intricate and delicate all of this work is. Kristie came in with all the tools that she thought would be appropriate for our world [and some] very old methods of practice, and I really enjoyed it. It shaped me tremendously. I felt it confirmed that I wanted to play him that way or wanted him to be that way and yes, that’s exactly how he would have worked, so I was happy with that.”
Of course, like The Rings of Power As the Season 1 finale revealed, Sauron – who at the time was posing as the so-called outcast king of the Southlands, Halbrand – was not present when Celebrimbor created the three Elven rings. However, for reasons I won’t spoil here, Celebrimbor and Halbrand reunite in Season 2, despite Galadriel’s warning to Celebrimbor (in Season 1 Episode 8) that Halbrand was no longer someone the Elves could trust. This inevitably leads to Sauron replacing Halbrand – through some dark magic – with his new alias Annatar, the ostensible “Lord of Gifts,” who forces Celebrimbor to create more of the titular rings.
Being the master manipulator that he is, Annatar knows which buttons to push in Celebrimbor to convince him to forge more magical artifacts. The key to this is how inadequate Celebrimbor feels to Fëanor, his grandfather and perhaps the greatest Elven smith who ever lived. Combined with Celebrimbor’s insatiable desire to create something as famous as Fëanor’s various works, plus the fact that Celebrimbor doesn’t know if – spoiler – the Elven Rings worked their magic and saved the Elven race, it doesn’t take long for Sauron/Annatar to pull Celebrimbor’s strings.
“A lot of it has to do with pride,” Edwards admitted, “but Celebrimbor also doesn’t know what happened to the Elf Rings. Halbrand teases and taunts him with that information, and they end up working together again.”
I’ll be covering Season 2 of one of Prime Video’s best shows in much more detail between now and launch day, including plenty of details on the dynamic between Edwards’ Celebrimbor and Charlie Vickers’ Sauron/Halbrand/Annatar. Stay tuned to TechRadar for more information as soon as I have it.
