You shall not pass! This article contains minor spoilers for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 3, Episodes 1-4.
After two years, “The Rings of Power” is back and as sprawling as ever. In fact, it may be even more so than it already was. Seasons 1 and 2 of the Prime Video series took us all over the map (quite literally, thanks to all those nifty map transitions), from the island kingdom of Númenor far in the West to the volcanic wastes of Mordor in the East. Season 3 expands the borders of Middle-earth even further, taking us to new locations and introducing multiple new characters to keep track of — some of whom seem more trustworthy than others.
Somewhere in the middle of all this is the Dwarf prince known as Thráin, the elder brother of King Durin (Owain Arthur) and a figure referenced with no small amount of suspicion towards the end of Season 2. As viewers quickly find out upon returning to Khazad-dûm, there is a fair bit of internal strife going on within the underground city, and Thráin’s arrival only exacerbates the tension in the air. While this is actually an original character created solely for the show, he still requires quite a lot of nuance and complexity to fully bring him to life.
Who better to do so than character actor
So, who better to do so than character actor Eddie Marsan? Yes, it might be incredibly difficult to tell who’s actually playing the stoutly Dwarf underneath that mountain of prosthetics, makeup, and that bushy mane of flaming red hair. But, if you take notice of those piercing eyes and distinctive voice, you just might be able to recognize the talents of a performer you’ve definitely seen before.
Where you’ve seen The Rings of Power star Eddie Marsan before
As it turns out, maybe there are some Dwarves that you can only trust as far as you can toss them (with respect to Gimli). While watching Thrain do his mischievous thing throughout the early episodes of “The Rings of Power” this season, you’ll likely find yourself wondering what else you’ve seen Eddie Marsan appear in before. In a quirk of scheduling, his most recent high-profile role was actually in this year’s “Clayface,” where he portrayed Frank Fitzpatrick. As the shady talent manager to Matt Hagen (Tom Rhys Harries), this is a perfect example of the kind of slippery character Marsan plays so well. Before that, he popped up in three episodes of the Netflix series “Heartstopper” and had supporting roles in three of director Guy Ritchie’s most recent movies: “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” “Wrath of Man,” and “The Gentlemen.”
You’d have to go back a little further to pinpoint what might be his most well-known role of all, however. He was cast in the 2009 “Sherlock Holmes” film as the famous Inspector Lestrade, a role he would then reprise in the 2011 sequel “A Game of Shadows” (yes, both of which were also directed by Ritchie). Having worked regularly since the 1990s, the English actor can be seen in a prolific amount of titles over the decades. Some notable examples include Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York,” the Wachowski Sisters’ “V for Vendetta,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Miami Vice,” “The World’s End,” “Deadpool 2,” and far too many more to name.
In short, Marsan is an acting veteran who knew exactly how to breathe life into a newly-arriving figure like Thráin.
New episodes of “The Rings of Power” Season 3 premiere on Prime Video every Wednesday.
