Middle-earth’s Dark Lord didn’t reveal his true identity on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power until season one’s finale, when “Halbrand” asked Galadriel to join him. During the show’s second season, Sauron will be able to fully embrace who he really is… Or at least he will when he’s not pretending to be someone else entirely. What will that mean for Sauron actor Charlie Vickers in The Rings of Power season two? How did this year differ from the show’s inaugural outing? And what has it been like walking around as “Hot Sauron” for two years? Nerdist asked Charlie Vickers about all of that and more when we spoke to him ahead of The Rings of Power season two.
Nerdist: We spoke days after season one ended, so the world had only just learned Halbrand was really Sauron on The Rings of Power. What has it been like the last two years walking around with people thinking of you as one the most infamous villains ever created?
Charlie Vickers: It’s been cool. I mean, to be honest, it’s only ever been a pleasure being able to play this character, and it’s become such a massive part of my life. But it is really a part of my life away from the normal part of my life, I guess. And luckily, so far, the two haven’t really crossed over that much so that it’s not something I really have to deal with in day-to-day life.
For me, it’s been huge. It just makes me really excited every day. Particularly when you get to go in and make the show and film the whole second season, and finally, you can be able to be Sauron and not Halbrand anymore.
We’re going to get to that, but I need to know: Do people still call you Hot Sauron?
Vickers: :big laugh: Not to my face. Not to my face.
You spent season one of The Rings of Power deceiving Galadriel and, in turn, viewers. Did the fact that everyone now knows you’re really Sauron change your performance in any way this time around in The Rings of Power season two?
Vickers: Yeah, I mean also by the nature of where the character goes, it changed my performance. I guess it’s about manipulation, and the difference this season is he doesn’t really have to hide anything. There are, of course, smaller things, but in terms of who he is for the audience—he’s still hiding things from other characters. But in terms of who I am for the audience, I no longer have to hide anything. So I was kind of…reveling is the wrong word, but I was really just trying to enjoy myself playing this iconic villain. And it’s such an incredible privilege and place to be in to be able to do this. So I just kind of really let myself sit in it.
The key thing, if I’m really honest, is you know you’re playing a villainous character, but Sauron never believes he’s a villain. And I think that’s a real key theme in this scene series.
I’ve seen the first three episodes of The Rings of Power season two, and it definitely comes across that you’re having a blast playing Sauron, who definitely seems more obviously evil and maliciously slippery than before. With Halbrand, there was at least a small chance he was a good, flawed person. Now that the mask is ripped off, do you think it is intentional that Sauron seems so much more evil this year? Or is that on me as a viewer because they can no longer give the character the benefit of the doubt?
Vickers: There’s definitely an intent from a creative point of view. When we were putting the look together and really creating the character, there were elements of a character that, I guess, thematically scream evil. But never from my performance was I trying to be evil. It’s the way that the show sets it up with the music and the lighting and the private moments that you see him have.
It’s kind of like those stolen moments that we’re now in on as an audience member, where Halbrand might’ve previously turned away and had a moment the camera doesn’t capture. Now, when Sauron turns away and has a moment, we’re with him, and you can see the cogs turning, and it’s that presence of evil is almost on us in a way as the viewers because we know everything that’s come before. But in the design there are definitely evil, evil elements for sure.
You spent all of season one working with Morfydd Clark, but obviously, that wasn’t really possible in season two of The Rings of Power. What was it like filming with so many new cast members this year?
Vickers: It was amazing. In a way, I spent most of this season with Charles Edwards, similar to the amount of time that I spent with Morfydd in the first season. But then I did dip in and out of a few other different worlds this season. The thing that just blew me away every day was acting opposite Charles. He’s such a legend.
He’s done so much here in England and all over the world, and he’s a real pro and just a really gifted actor. And to be able to go to work with him every day was such a privilege. And all of the same can be said for Morfydd. So it was similar in that respect, but it was an absolute joy to film with different people. Then there are times when I won’t say too much because [this interview] is going to be up before the show, but there are times when I meet characters from other worlds, and that opened my mind to some of the complications in filming technically. The technical complications of living in Middle-earth.
Speaking of your old screenmate, Sauron asked Galadriel to be his queen at the end of season one of The Rings of Power. How much, if at all, does he still want that by this point? And does he think it’s a possibility?
Vickers: I think he probably does think it’s still a possibility because he has this hubris and this self-love. He thinks he’s really cool, and he thinks, “Well, she rejected me once, but next time I come back for her, she won’t reject me again because I’ll be so powerful she won’t be able to.”
But I don’t think he necessarily wants that. I think his initial proposal to her was to join him, and they could be king and queen of Middle-earth, but really, he would’ve been king, and she would’ve been his righthand woman. Any kind of dreams he has involve her being number two and him being number one.
What are Sauron’s long-term plans for Adar on The Rings of Power?
Vickers: Healing. I think he wants to kind of…what’s the best way I can put it…
Without spoiling anything, he is pissed off at him. I would say that Adar is going to, I think Sauron wants Adar to sort of get his comeuppance because what he did to him. And we see this in the first episode, so it’s not really spoiling anything. The thing that I love about the start of the show is we see the backstory and the history between these two characters. And I think, ultimately, Sauron wants Adar to get what he deserves for what he did. Throughout the season, we can see his plan to do that.
Nerdist: We can talk about this because season two The Rings of Power trailers show you as Annatar, the deceptive form Sauron took on to trick Celebrimbor. What did you do to differentiate that version of Sauron with the other versions of him we see on the show?
Vickers: Obviously, there’s a big physical difference, but approaching it from a creative point of view, Annatar is very different. I took some ideas from the book, this idea of a fair form. I always thought of him as quite an angelic being. And everything that he does is for Celebrimbor. So the way I play the character comes from the place of I want Celebrimbor to do what I want, basically. There were certain ways that I would move, and ways that I’d speak, and things that I developed with lots of different people that are inherently different to Halbrand. But it all comes from the place of how can I best get the oldest, greatest Elvin smith in the history of Middle-earth to listen to a complete stranger.
Practically, it is an assuredness and a calmness. And I love this idea of his stillness, of Sauron’s stillness in the sense that everything is very centered, grounded, and still. Because if it wasn’t like that, there’s so much power. He’s holding so much power that any kind of shadow movement, whatever it might be, would cause ripples in the atmosphere from hundreds of miles. So it all needs to be contained, and everything is very under the surface. That demands respect from someone of the stature of Celebrimbor.
What was it like getting dressed up and made up as Annatar after usually filming in rags covered in dirt?
Vickers: It was certainly a longer process. I spent a lot of time, much more time, in the makeup chair. I was wearing ears, and I had different hair. It was quite nice, actually, because I was so used to full body makeup being Halbrand, in the sense of always covered in dirt or always covered in some kind of scabs or blood. Being Annatar, he is very clean. He’s a hygienic guy with almost kind of translucent skin, and wearing more clothes, he’s in a gown the whole time. So it was quite nice not to have to get home at the end of the day and wash my whole body. It was kind of just my face.
Did you have any prosthetics on your face to play Annatar?
Vickers: No. It’s all just the work of The Rings of Power‘s makeup team. What they really wanted was angular lines, and that was something that kind of creates this sense of evil and darkness and sharpness. They used a lot of contouring and shadowing to do that.
Nerdist: You’ve already kind of hinted at how important their relationship is this season. How would you describe Sauron and Celebrimbor’s partnership in season two of The Rings of Power? And how does it differentiate from the way it’s described in Tolkien’s writings?
Vickers: To be honest, it’s very similar to the way it’s described in Tolkien’s writings. What we cover a lot of this season is the lore, what’s in The Silmarillion, in the chapter of The Rings of Power and the Akallabêth. So there’s some really exciting things for real fans of Tolkien there.
But I’d say their relationship is one of mutual respect, in that it’s kind of like the meeting of two minds to create an amazing piece of technology. One of them brings one element and the other, I like to think of Sauron as the idea man.
He brings this thing that he’s been stewing on. Not a power of the flesh, but over flesh, an idea he’s had am mean stewing on for centuries. But he doesn’t have the practical knowledge about how to implement it. And then, all of a sudden, he meets this guy who knows his way around a forge really well. Not that Sauron doesn’t, but he thinks, “Well, I can work with this person to put my ideas into motion.” It’s the bringing of them together. They push each other to new heights throughout the season.
Nerdist: You say there’s a lot of lore this year. What are you most excited for fans to see in season two? It can be about Sauron or just in general.
Vickers: The thing that sticks out to me is…it’s tough and there’s no spoiler here because it is in the name of the show…just some guys making rings. Really, that is the exciting thing to myself as a fan. When I read the script, and when I think about all the things that are to come in this show, there are certain big bullet points that this show about this time in Middle-earth need to tick off and will tick off. Whether it’s the Fall of Numenor and beyond, the Battle of the Last Alliance, this one is about the crafting of the rings of power. And this is the exciting thing about this season is where we’re at. We’re up to it, and we get to see these things happen for the first time. That’s what I’m excited for fans to see.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Prime Video.