The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim Stars Reflect On J.R.R. Tolkien's Legacy

Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The House of Eorl", a short story found in Appendix A of his legendary novel, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim follows the King of Rohan's battle against an army of Dunlendings. The animated movie is told in traditional anime style and helmed by iconic director Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell) and borrows from several stories throughout Tolkien's legendarium as well as the Peter Jackson trilogy of movies. But while the movie centers on Rohan's King Helm Hammerhand, it also features the return of Miranda Otto's Éowyn.

She serves as the narrator to The War of the Rohirrim story, which highlights the parallels between her story in The Two Towers and the animated movie's new heroine, who is aptly named Héra (played by Gaia Wise). Éowyn is also a direct descendant of another hero in the movie, Héra's cousin Fréaláf (voiced by Laurence Ubong Williams), who becomes King of Rohan by the end of The War of the Rohirrim. Other major characters include Luke Pasqualino as Wulf, Shaun Dooley as Freca, and Christopher Lee as Freca.

Related 10 Ways War Of The Rohirrim Connects To Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings Movies Warner Bros.' new Tolkien adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim recalls the original LotR trilogy in multiple ways.

ScreenRant interviewed Wise and Williams about their characters in The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim and how they related to their conflicts. The actors also reflected on Tolkien's legacy and what makes his stories as relevant today as when he wrote them.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim Stars Reflect On Tolkien’s Themes

“The beauty of Tolkien is that even though it's a fantasy world, it feels incredibly human.”

ScreenRant: First of all, this film is incredible. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and this feels like it fits right in. Gaia, can you share your first encounter with Tolkien's work as a child? What aspects of the Lord of the Rings resonate with you deeply or lead you to rewatch it multiple times?

Gaia Wise: Oh gosh. I read The Hobbit and then discovered the films. It's the fact that the films speak to the human condition in every way, and there are beautiful human connections within all of the films. The characters are wonderful, and the beauty of Tolkien is that even though it's a fantasy world, it feels incredibly human. That's why they're so rewatchable; because there are aspects of it that fit into our lives. I remember the first time I saw the films, I just [wanted] to be Éowyn. Seeing those when you're a child, and I hope now having another female character – especially a protagonist in this that’s the hero, adding to the lore of the women and the lore of the Shieldmaidens – was very exciting. She's just incredible; the coolest.

ScreenRant: Laurence, you mentioned that Tolkien's themes continue to resonate because they reflect real human life experiences. How do you think this film captures those timeless themes through its storytelling

Laurence Ubong Williams: You start with this sense of duty to one's own tribe, and that tribalism is just part of the human story. Conflicts tend to start when territories are invaded, and tribes go to war, but there's also the sense of loyalty to one's own family, and those things are always tested in real life. But what we've established in the last 24-48 hours, having been enveloped in the story of The War of the Rohirrim, is that there's another pertinent [element] here and a prophetic one – as Brian Cox said earlier – about women. There are moments in this film where women finally have their moment, not just to do what needs to be done but to get recognition for it. When men are forced to, quite rightfully, finally listen to our sisters and what good can come from that.

Gaia Wise & Laurence Ubong Williams Praise Héra And Fréaláf’s Stories In LOTR: The War Of The Rohirrim

“The slogan for men should just be, “Be more like Fréaláf.””

ScreenRant: Gaia, when you first read the script for this film, what elements made you feel emotionally connected to the story and your character, Héra?

Gaia Wise: It's such a rich story. The script is so beautiful. It was very much about a woman's voice, or a young girl's voice, that is silenced at the beginning of the film and is finally heard. That's when things start to turn around. It, to me, very much mirrored Éowyn’s “I am no man” in The Return of the King. It’s my favorite moment. [Héra's] such a three-dimensional character. There's so much going on there. What I loved most about her was that she was allowed to be vulnerable. Her vulnerability is a source of her strength because it allows her to remain compassionate and true to her morals and values, and not be overtaken by anger and fear like Wulf.

ScreenRant: Lawrence, your character experiences inner conflict and navigates family tension. Can you talk about the balance between loyalty to Rohan and his disagreement with King Helm?

Laurence Ubong Williams: That is the conflict I found personally, as Laurence, to be something I could not relate to. If I were so assured of myself that what I believed was the right thing to do or the right course of action was this thing that I was advocating, and then someone disagreed with me, I'm going to get quite hotheaded. But he has this sense of duty and honor to himself, the codes of conduct, and the chain of command that he has to obey, and he has a degree of nobility that I now find myself looking up to. I think, “Wow, you can wait for your time. You have to be patient. You have to be stoic when you need to be, and eventually, you'll have time to do the right thing for the people you love.” And, of course, he does. Gaia Wise: Yeah, the slogan for men should just be, “Be more like Fréaláf.”

More About The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024)

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Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.

Check back soon for our other The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim interviews here:

Philippa Boyens

Kenji Kamiyama

Brian Cox

Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now playing in theaters.

Source: Screen Rant Plus