'My neck was just destroyed': Actor Ismael Cruz Córdova opens up about his action scenes for The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power

The actor tells how he trained for eight months for the jaw-dropping action scenes in episode 6 titled Udûn.
A still from the series
A still from the series

With just two more episodes left for the conclusion of the season one of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power, the Amazon Original series brought the house down with a massive battle sequence in episode 6 titled Udûn. The episode is one of the most consequential ones in the history of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth. Amongst the many sequences that left the viewers in awe is the one where events followed Arondir aka Ismael Cruz Córdova. The episode shows a high-octane action scene that begins when Bronwyn and Arondir leading the retreat from the tower of Ostirion and beginning to prepare for the combat which is filled with edgy and brilliant motion sequence. 

While the audience enjoyed the fighting rows, actor Ismael Cruz tells how he prepared himself for a scene where he was faced with an Orc.“There are no stilts or camera tricks. The guy is massive, an incredible mover and fighter. I had to climb on him, step on his hip and leg and wrap myself around and strangle him as he’s moving around. It’s almost like being on a mechanical bull. There were no rigs, no wires, we were not being supported by anything. I was on the back of this massive man trying not to fall.” 

The actor had three months of training for the above action sequence and reveals, “The one that was the hardest was when he broke the column with my back and I had to keep my head forward, tuck my chin into my chest so that when he slams me against it and my neck doesn’t whiplash. But, of course, sometimes it does. My neck was just destroyed; I was like a robot walking around.” The actor was left in bruises and perpertual state of soreness during the shooting despite being trained in martial arts, wirework and fight choreography. 

In the scene, Ismael Cruz was covered with Orc’s blood which was prepared with a mix of gooey chocolate, food colouring and gelatin that added to discomfort for the actor in the fighting scene. He tells, “It was so sticky, so uncomfortable and so cold when we were shooting those night shoots. It all kept going into my breastplate. So I had this pool of sugary goo on me for the better part of two weeks.”

For the unversed, the series The Lord of The Rings: The Rings Of Power revolves around the heroic legends of the fabled second age of Middle Earth’s history. The epic drama is set in a milieu, which precedes the events of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings books by over 1,000 years. It aims to make the audience go back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to doom, hopes hung by the finest of threads, and one of the greatest villains threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
E-mail: Priyamvada@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @ranapriyamvada

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