Lord of the Rings star Morfydd Clark says she ‘spoke more Welsh in New Zealand than in London’

Lord of the Rings star Morfydd Clark has said that she “spoke more Welsh in New Zealand than in London” after landing the role in the new Rings of Power series beside other Welsh-speaking cast members.

The Galadriel actor stars alongside two Welsh-speaking actors in the cast – Owain Arthur as Durin IV, and Trystan Gravelle who plays Pharazôn – as well as Lloyd Owen in and Megan Richards in the role of Elendil and Poppy Proudfellow who have Welsh parents.

In an interview with Radio Cymru she said that spending time on set with other Welsh speakers made her feel at home while filming in New Zealand.

“That was wonderful for me – I didn’t grow up speaking Welsh at home and I’ve still felt a little shy that my Welsh isn’t good enough,” she said.

“Being part of this with two people who spoke Welsh all the time together (Owain Arthur and Trystan Gravelle) – I thought my Welsh was better than it had ever been.

“After 10 years of being in London, I’ve spoken more Welsh in New Zealand!”

‘At home’

The second series of Rings of Power has now begun filming at its new headquarters at Bray Studios outside of London. Some filming will also take place in Scotland, but it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether the Welsh cast will get to do any filming in Wales.

“We are about to start filming season 2,” Morfydd Clark told Radio Cymru. “And we are pleased to be back with the cast because we have been through something quite strange together filming something like this in the middle of Covid on the other side of the world.

“So being back with all those people is going to feel like being at home.”

She added: “We have about 10 months so that’s a nice touch, we’ve got time and there’s no rush which is lovely. You create such tight-knit relationships when you work over time like this with cast and crew.

“I’m really looking forward – we’re filming in Britain and I’m looking forward to meeting the new crew.”