Photo: EW
No matter what he does, Ismael Cruz Cordova doesn’t care what the trolls think.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star, who is the first person of color to portray an elf in the fantasy franchise, claims he’s been online every day with a sustained outburst of “hate speech pure and vicious” the last two years – coincidentally when the Prime Video show announced its casting.
However, the actor did not dwell on those remarks. Instead, he used them to improve his performance.
“I fought so hard for this role for this very season,” Cordova said in an interview with Esquire. “I felt that I could carry that torch. I made sure that my elf was the most Elven, the most incredible, because I knew this was coming.”
On the show, Cordova portrays Arondil, a wise elf who falls in love with a human named Bronwyn (Nazanin Boniadi) while on a quest to watch over the Southlands.
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Cordova Says There is No Excuses
He went on to say he’s quite happy with Prime Video’s recent blitz in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth helps rewrite what an elf is about and put the trolls in their place.
“You can never use it as an excuse: ‘But elves don’t look like that,’” he stated. “They didn’t, but now they do.”
Cordova’s statement came after fans bombarded the show with reviews online, a few even complaining about the series’ casting.
The show now has a 38% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes – parred with its 84% critical rating – and Amazon has halted reviews of the series on its platform.
When asked for comments on the matter, representatives for Amazon have not yet issued any reply. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s first two episodes are now available on Prime Video.
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