The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohrrim is riding into theaters very soon. This epic Tolkien tale takes us back nearly 200 years before the Fellowship of the Ring and their tale to tell a much different kind of story. This time, we’re focusing in on Rohan and the world of men. Part and parcel with that are characters who are very steeped in their humanity. And that extends to the villain of the tale, Wulf. The War of the Rohirrim‘s Wulf, voiced by Luke Pasqualino, is a rarer human villain in a The Lord of the Rings story, devoid of supernatural influence but drenched in the strengths and follies of man. Ahead of the release of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Luke Pasqualino spoke to Nerdist about Wulf, diving into the character’s huge vulnerability despite his great villainy, his bond with hero Héra, and the joy of stepping into the world of The Lord of the Rings.
Nerdist: Wulf is a rare human villain in The Lord of the Rings world. Much of the time, the evil is in these sort of great supernatural entities. What do you think are Wulf’s motivations in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and how does his humanity drive him?
Luke Pasqualino: I think his motivations are his love for Héra, Wulf has a huge respect for Héra, and I think it is there from the first moment they meet, and it’s there until the moment that they end their relationship, so to speak. But I think Wulf is incredibly fiercely loyal to his family. So that’s the driving force behind everything that he does.
Wulf is a character that hails from The Lord of the Rings lore—how much did you go to the lore and what parts of him do you feel you evolved in The War of the Rohirrim?
Pasqualino: I think I didn’t, really. There wasn’t much of the literature that I actually read before taking on this project. But he’s got a huge vulnerability about him, and when you meet him, there’s a childlike quality about him that we see develop, and so quickly, Wulf grows from a boy into a man because of all the trials and tribulations that are thrown at him throughout the course of The War of the Rohirrim. So, I think the one note that I was given is that there’s always a vulnerability to Wulf. So, to be able to play with that and to evolve that sort of emotion of his was a joy.
We know from The Lord of the Rings lore that Wulf teams up with the Easterlings and the Corsairs, who are loyal to Sauron. Does Sauron play a role in Wulf’s story at all?
Pasqualino: I guess he kind of does. Yeah. Not hugely directly, though. I think Wulf’s journey is dictated by a lot of things that happen in The Lord of the Rings universe. So there isn’t just one person, I guess. But I think, with every character, there’s influence from other parts of the story.
Did you get to interact with anything that you found particularly exciting from The Lord of Rings world while acting as Wulf in The War of the Rohirrim?
Pasqualino: Yeah, Philippa Boyens and the crew. Yeah, the writers and the crew. And obviously, Peter Jackson came on as an executive producer, but to be working with the likes of Philippa Boyens, who has been part of this world now for over two decades, maybe even longer than that, is amazing. So yeah, to be on the other side, to be on the other side of the screen, so to speak, not just being somebody that watches it, but it’s being somebody that’s now a part of it, it’s amazing.
And do we see the Rings of Power feature at all in Wulf’s story in The War of the Rohirrim?
Pasqualino: Not particularly, no. That’s probably one of the things that you don’t really see feature in his story.
And what was the most unexpected part of Wulf for you?
Pasqualino: I mean, when you hear you’re playing a villain, it’s very easy to sort of have the preconception that he’s just going to be full of bravado and nothing else, which he is, to some degree. But, like I mentioned, I was given an amazing note by Philippa Boyens that there’s a huge vulnerability to Wulf. So you don’t often see a huge vulnerability in many villains. You get the anti-hero and whatnot where there’s a lot of vulnerability. But with a villain who’s so full of himself and revenge, you don’t often see that it comes with a vulnerability. So, to explore that vulnerability with Wulf in The War of the Rohirrim was probably a very welcome surprise.
And just to conclude, can you describe Wulf’s arc in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim in just a few words?
Pasqualino: He has this sort of childlike quality when you first meet him, and he’s very bonded to Héra. But what bonds him to the person he grew up with, and he loves and has so much respect for, is also the thing that divides them.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim releases in theaters on December 13.
