The headline has spoilers in it, but if for some reason you aren’t caught up with Rings of Power and want to see the show before reading about more spoilers, you can stream it with an Amazon Prime subscription.
Gandalf, or I mean The Stranger, is known for telling his Hobbit friends to always follow their noses. In Markella Kavenagh’s case, she needed to do just that and follow her instincts when it came to figuring out The Stranger’s identity. I write that because, now that the cat is out of the bag, and we know who Daniel Weyman’s character is, I got to learn the full story behind learning and revealing his identity from his co-star who plays the Harfoot Nori.
Right before the final episodes of Rings of Power’s second season dropped on the 2024 TV schedule, I talked to Markella Kavenagh about her character’s journey this season to help The Stranger find his name. In the finale, we finally found out that Weyman’s wizard was indeed Gandalf, and like me, the Nori actress was thrilled about it all.
During our interview for CinemaBlend, she told me why this whole experience dealing with a legendary Lord of the Rings character has been so surreal, saying:
Continuing to speak about learning that her longtime co-star was playing the iconic Gandalf, Kavenagh explained that her inner child was freaking out about the news. She told me that the 8-year-old version of herself would be shocked that she was making a show that involved a beloved Lord of the Rings character, and overall she’s overwhelmed in the best way by it all:
After explaining how elated she was to learn about The Stranger’s identity, I asked the Rings of Power cast member how long she knew about her co-star’s name. While she had her suspicions for a long time, she didn’t find out he was Gandalf until late in the process, as she explained:
So, much like Sauron’s identity, The Sranger’s name was kept close to the chest for a long time. However, that was helpful in a lot of ways, because up until the Season 2 finale, even The Stranger didn’t know what his name was. To that point, the Nori actress told me:
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Unlike Charlie Vickers’ Halbrand being in disguise as Sauron in Season 1, when The Stranger crashed into Middle-earth, he had absolutely no idea who he was. So, on this journey of self-discovery, he’s evolving into the wizard that we know and love.
Overall, it was a thrilling reveal that many predicted, and now, the anticipation to see how Gandalf impacts Rings of Power Season 3 is starting to build. While I’m so excited to see where the story goes and Markella Kavenagh is too, she’s also still processing just how massive this situation is. To that point, she closed out her comments on the reveal by saying:
Girl, I’m still processing it all too, and I cannot wait to see where Gandalf and Nori’s stories go next!
The two went their separate ways at the end of Season 2, so new adventures await the wizard and the Harfoot. However, there’s no doubt that what lies ahead will be magical.
Riley Utley
Weekend Editor
Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite showsTed LassoandThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift toFire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.
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