Jamie Campbell Bower reveals why joining “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” felt different from “Stranger Things ”and “Harry Potter”
Jamie Campbell Bower reveals why joining “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” felt different from “Stranger Things ”and “Harry Potter”
Staff AuthorSat, August 1, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC
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Jamie Campbell Bower in ‘Rings of Power’ and ‘Stranger Things’Credit: Ben Rothstein/Prime; NetflixKey Points -
Jamie Campbell Bower tells Entertainment Weekly why it felt different to join The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power after previously starring in major fantasy franchises like Harry Potter, Twilight, and Stranger Things.
The actor said it was an “amazing” and “terrifying” to move to Middle-earth.
Bower will play Celeborn, the long-lost husband of Galadriel, in the Prime Video series’ upcoming third season.
Jamie Campbell Bower’s acting career is so stacked that it can be hard to remember that he’s already starred in three major film and television franchises: Harry Potter, Twilight, andStranger Things.
Now, the 37-year-old actor is hopping aboard another beloved series as Celeborn in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And, as he explained at EW’s 2026 San Diego Comic-Con studio over the weekend, the experience has been unlike any one before it.
“It was kind of amazing because, obviously, the work has been around for so much longer in terms of when the book was written, and when he started it, than really anything else I’ve ever done before,” Bower elaborated. “And that brings people who have lived with the work for so much longer.”
Jamie Campbell Bower in ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.’Credit: Everett
And, as a result, fans who care very deeply about the source material.
“I think what’s beautiful about [JRR] Tolkien’s work and about this story is that everybody forms an emotional attachment to it which is incredible,” he said. “It’s also terrifying as well. That quite a scary thing to step into for sure.”
Bower was particularly blown away by the beauty of Middle-earth compared to other franchises.
“There’s a lot of things that I’ve stepped into have been quite sort of dark— and I’m not saying that your world isn’t,” he told his Rings of Power costar Charlie Vickers, who plays the villainous Sauron. “But in terms of where we are, there’s so much beauty and gorgeousness, and that’s just lovely to be in.”
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Vickers cheekily replied, “It’s very happy, Sauron’s world.”
To be fair, Bower has historically portrayed villains in previous fantasy franchises. He starred as a young version of the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and its spinoff Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as well as a member of the strict vampire governing family the Volturi in the Twilight films.
More recently, he wrapped his turn as the complicated baddie Vecna/Henry Creel in Stranger Things shortly before moving on to Rings of Power, where it was announced that he will be finally playing a force for good this time around.
The actor will star as Celeborn, the long-lost husband of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), in the upcoming third season, which is set in the Second Age during the War of Elves and Sauron.
With the role, Bower joins an illustrious cast that includes Vickers, Clark, Robert Aramayo, Sopia Nomvete, Ismael Cruz Córdova, and more. He’s not the only newcomer this season, either. Eddie Marsan will star as Thrain, an early ancestor of Thorin Oakenshield played by Richard Armitage in the Hobbit films; Andrew Richardson is in as Anarion; and Simon Pegg will voice Gandalf’s least-favorite monster, the Balrog.
The Lord of the Rings: the Rings of Power returns to rule television on Nov. 11. Check out more of EW’s coverage from San Diego Comic-Con 2026.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
