Hugo Weaving says he won’t bother tuning in to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2, which debuts on Prime Video this month.
The British actor earned critical acclaim for his role as Lord Elrond in Peter Jackson’s multi Oscar-winning trilogy The Lord of the Rings and reprised his role in 2012 for The Hobbit franchise.
Scottish star Robert Aramayo plays a much younger version of the iconic elf in the new series, which is set thousands of years before those films, yet Weaving has no interest in finding out about his character’s early life.
“I haven’t seen the show,” Hugo told us at a recent press event. “I spent too long in Middle Earth and I don’t particularly want to go back there!”
“I spent so much time on that particular piece and it was a huge franchise, but for me it was not a role that has the same sort of stature in my head as it does for fans. I’m sure Robert’s great in it though!”
One place Weaving is very keen to keep exploring is the world of espionage and he’ll joining the cast of Apple TV’s hit drama Slow Horses season 4, as ex-CIA operative Frank Harkness.
“My character is pretty iconic I think,” explains Weaving. “I think he’s a classic villain in one way, but he’s also a human being, he’s very grey, dark grey. He’s a piece of work, he’s a renegade, he’s out there and is completely unsentimental. He’s ruthless, but not without charm! He’s a slow-burn throughout this particular season.”Â
Weaving says it was the show’s mix of humour and intelligence that drew him in, while he also enjoyed the show’s action sequences…Â
“Everyone assumes that because I was in The Matrix I can be in any fight with ease, but that was quite a long time ago!” he explains, looking back on the film which helped make his name, where he starred opposite Keanu Reeves as Agent Smith.
“It was incredibly hard work to train for the original movie, we trained for months and months and months to get all the kung-fu going. The way The Matrix was shot was really cutting edge at the time and it felt like we were doing something that had never been done before.
“When I first read the script I didn’t expect it to be as big as it was, by but the time we started shooting I thought it was going to be a real special piece of work. I’m not surprised the first film has stood the test of time!”
Slow Horses season 4 begins on Apple TV on Wednesday September 4
