Robert Aramayo, who plays Elrond, spent his downtime reading, traveling throughout New Zealand, and working on farms.
Actor Robert Aramayo, who plays Elrond in Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, spent some of his pandemic-related downtime working on farms, and no one knew who he was. Aramayo couldn’t leave New Zealand, where the show was filmed, because it wasn’t a sure thing that he’d be allowed back in due to pandemic restrictions at the time.
With some free time on his hands, Aramayo read a lot, and also traveled around Zealand by bus and by hitchhiking, he told Variety. The actor also worked on farms in exchange for food and lodging.
“I worked on some farms met some really interesting cool people,” he said, adding that he did whatever was asked of him. “Carried hay stacks, dug holes. Stuff I’ve just not really done much of. But it’s a sweet deal. They give you a bed and some food and you give them work. It was a great thing to do.”
His farmstay employers didn’t know who he was, or at least Aramayo didn’t think so. “It was just something really, really fun that I really wanted to do,” he said.
Aramayo also recalled how he felt when he was informed he landed the role of the iconic Middle-earth character, Elrond. “I had one of those moments where everything in your body feels like you’re on electricity,” he said.
Not only did cast and crew need to stay in New Zealand while making The Rings of Power, at least for a period of time, the production shut down due to COVID. Director J.A. Bayona told Collider this shutdown happened about halfway through the shoot, and it ended up lasting for six months–a period of time that did not go unused.
“That was a good relief. Because when you work on television, you have very limited time to deliver the cut. But that gave us an extra time. That was very helpful for the process,” he said.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which launches its first two episodes on September 1. The two episodes will actually air a day earlier, on August 31, in theaters. Social media reactions to the first two episodes have arrived, and people are very excited about it.
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