Actor Ludi Lin is calling for greater Asian representation in the new Lord of the Rings TV series.
Lin noted the issue on Twitter in reference to the Amazon series' reported emphasis on world-building. "It's going to be difficult to justify building a 'huge world' without any characters that look Asian," he said.
Tagging Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, Lin challenged the production to use its imagination by increasing cast diversity. He stated, "Turn that imagine on us [Salke]. It's not hard, we're right here." Lin's most recent film, Mortal Kombat, featured an inclusive cast and is currently in the top five highest-grossing films of 2021.
Salke recently justified the $465 million cost of the Lord of the Rings first season by saying, "The number is a sexy headline or a crazy headline that's fun to click on, but that is really building the infrastructure of what will sustain the whole series." It is currently reported as the most expensive series ever made.
Details for The Lord of the Rings series are scarce, though it is reportedly set in the Second Age, thousands of years before The Hobbit. The series claims to follow a large group of characters who battle evil all across Middle-earth during Sauron's rise to power. Earlier this year, actor Tom Budge stated he left the series due to creative differences, as the production changed the direction for his character.
Produced by Amazon Studios, The Lord of the Rings stars Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker and Sara Zwangobani. The series is expected to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in 2021.
Source: Twitter
