news culture The Rings of Power: This Amazon Prime actress hasn’t forgotten the racist comments
At the time of the announcement, the Amazon Prime video series The Rings of Power was not necessarily well received by Middle-earth fans. The community pointed out several artistic choices made by the production, including the presence of black actors in the cast. But the controversy escalated when the actors in question faced a wave of harassment and abuse on social media. Actress Sophia Nomvete recently returned to this painful moment.
Controversial creative choices
The Amazon Prime video series The Rings of Power has been in the news since its release last September. The most expensive television show of all time, the adaptation of the writings of JRR Tolkien failed to please fans when it aired. Beyond the intrinsic quality of the series, many viewers and fans of the Lord of the Rings universe criticized the production for making creative choices that were deemed disrespectful to the source material.
At the top, we particularly note the controversy surrounding the presence of black actors in the series, evident from the presentation of the cast. For some fans, blacks have no place in Middle-earth because they would be absent from Tolkien’s texts. A controversy that has no place for the actors involved, who have also suffered verbal abuse. Such is the case of Sophia Nomvete, interpreter of Princess Disa in the series, who has been insulted on social networks.
A story worth telling
Sophia Nomvete recently returned to this difficult period in her life when her participation in the Rings of Power was announced. The British actress recalled the hate messages she received at the time The Hollywood Reporter. Instead of urging her to give up her role, the actress explained that those messages proved to her, on the contrary, that her presence was essential.
When the announcement came and our photos were shared to show our roles, statistically I was the most attacked cast member. There was the “N-word”, I had no place here. “You’re too fat, you’re too black. Why are you here?” I received a very polite message that read, “I am sure you are a wonderful actress and a lovely person. I just don’t think you should be involved, it’s not fair. If you could maybe send a letter of resignation to Amazon.” , I would be very grateful.” I thought, “No, I won’t do that, I can’t do that. I can’t afford to stop, unfortunately I’m here to to stay.”
I realized that my presence on the show was not just a celebration, but an act of defiance against a reality that is not true, which is the fact that we have no place on screen or in fantasy worlds. It was clear to me that I had to do my best with my character for my daughter and for future generations and the industry (…). So I went to the showrunners and begged them to make this moment important. I begged her not to push the character into the background or just make her a “wife” or a fat and funny girlfriend. I begged her to make her a true sexual titan.
I realized (…) that I had to help people understand (these characters), embrace them and endear them – you would never look down on a scared child. you are scared. They’re scared because they’ve never seen us before. So I made it my mission then and throughout the show to take away their fear, to help them understand and enlighten them, to show them that we can tell a story, that we can be present and that the show that will only do We will be better than our industry for it and our world will be better for it.
Sophia Nomvete therefore turned her interpretation into a personal struggle. A recurring controversy in the film and television industries, one that’s often challenged by people who primarily want adaptations that stay true to the original works. But in the case of the actress, this argument is difficult to hear when, on the one hand, Tolkien did not systematically define the physical characteristics of each of the characters he created, and on the other hand, the character of Princess Disa is an original creation, developed specifically for the series.
