Acting inspiration due to Welsh language and Eisteddfod says Lord of the Rings actress

One of the stars of a new Lord of the Rings series which will be broadcast this year has said that she had the Welsh language to thank for inspiring her to take us acting.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Morfydd Clark credits Wales’ “proud cultural heritage and huge focus on the arts” for her early inspiration, and her first experience came from taking part as a schoolgirl “in the annual Eisteddfod Welsh-language music and poetry competition and festival”.

“That set me up for it all,” she said. “But I really got into acting because I was really bad at schoolwork.”

After leaving school at age 16, Morfydd Clark was urged to audition for the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain and the Welsh National Youth Opera.

She went on to play the title role in Saunders Lewis’ play Blodeuwedd with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru. She also appeared as Sister Clara in the Cardiff-made His Dark Materials for the BBC.

Morfydd Clark will now play a young Galadriel, the character portrayed by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films.

As a result, she said that she spent the entirety of 2020 working in New Zealand, which returned to something close to normality last summer due to its careful handling of the pandemic.

“It’s been amazing to be here, and very good for the soul, in lots of ways,” she said. And although she admits to be “very homesick,” she said that home “isn’t how it is” at the moment.

“It’s so odd going through this obviously life-changing moment while I’m on the other side of the world, because nothing’s familiar,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. “Obviously it’s impossible because there’s a pandemic, but I often just want one of my school friends out here, in the back of the shot, just to normalize it a bit.”