When actress Gaia Wise received a call confirming her role as the lead in the upcoming animated movie “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” she yelled so loudly that her neighbours phoned the police.
She recounted in a CNN interview that “two Camden coppers (police officers) were the first two people to find out.” “They gave me the look of indignation when I told them, ‘I have a new job!'”
Héra, the youngest and only daughter of King Helm Hammerhand of Rohan, is voiced by Wise in the upcoming movie, which is directed by the well-known anime filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama and stars Brian Cox.
Offering fans a new chapter in Middle-earth’s illustrious past, the story revolves around Héra and her father’s valiant struggle to save their country and is set 183 years before the events of Peter Jackson’s live-action “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Wise, a lifetime lover of “The Lord of the Rings” films and a self-described Tolkienist, describes playing Héra as a “deeply meaningful moment.”
“I adore the movies. Two or three times a year, I watch them. I’m a lover of Tolkien, and I’ve read the novel once. As an adult, I believe I should return to them,” she said.
The British actress, 24, is the daughter of well-known actresses Emma Thompson and Greg Wise. She made appearances in the films “Last Chance Harvey” (2008) and “A Walk in the Woods” (2015) before taking on the role of the Rohirrim princess in animation.
“Hopefully, those coppers will see this now and realise why she was screaming,” she joked.
Working along with Warner Bros. Animation (a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, like CNN) and New Line Cinema, the movie builds on a small portion of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works that can be found in the appendices of “The Return of the King,” where Helm Hammerhand’s story is summarised in two pages.
In addition to its animated approach, the film’s prominent portrayal of Héra, who was initially unidentified in Tolkien’s book, marks a revolutionary change for the highly regarded series that enthralled viewers with its 2001–2003 renditions.
The trilogy has drawn criticism for not making any of its female characters the focal point of the narrative, while having such notable figures as Arwen (Liv Tyler), Éowyn (Miranda Otto), and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett). Only with the 2022 premiere of the Amazon Originals series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” did the franchise bring female protagonists to television, with characters such as Galadriel and Bronwyn taking on prominent roles.
The arrival of Wulf (Luke Pasqualino), the son of a former ally Freca (Shaun Dooley), and his father to request her hand in marriage throws Héra’s life into disarray when we first meet her. Independent and strong-willed, she declines, and her father, King Helm Hammerhand, flatly rejects the idea. A fight breaks out after Helm murders Wulf’s father, turning the situation ugly. Héra must step up to the plate as war breaks out, commanding her people from the mountain stronghold that would later be known as Helm’s Deep against Wulf’s expanding army.
According to Wise, the movie gives the Helm Hammerhand portrayed in Tolkien’s appendices a more compassionate aspect.
“She never pays attention to him, thus their relationship is fantastic. The Helm we know has a lovely past, though, as he comes to trust her and listen to her,” she said.
Helm’s actor, Brian Cox, said that he could identify with the role and called the film’s father-daughter relationship one of its most poignant elements.
“I’ve got four children and a daughter. A father’s bond with his daughter is unique, not because I don’t love my other children any more or less. According to him, it’s not like any other relationship.”
