LotR Star Drops Some Harsh Truth About Rings of Power: "Money-Making Venture"

Actor Bernard Hill, who many will remember portrayed the noble King Théoden of Rohan, has shared his true feelings about 'The Rings of Power ' series. And it's safe to say he's not a fan.

In a recent interview with Metro, Hill responded to a question asking if he had seen any part of the new show with a definite "no". While making it clear he also had no interest in doing so soon.

Expanding on his answer, he labelled the series a 'money-making venture' and confessed he didn't feel it was "like the real thing". He may have been referencing Amazon's well-publicized expense of the show of over $400 million, making it the most expensive television show ever made.

Amazon has been heavily promoting RoP since its release. And has been open about its future plans for the series, which is expected to release another four seasons.

To Hill, RoP seems a product to make money and not a tribute to Tolkien's original novels. When asked whether he thought the franchise should have stopped after the last of Jackson's films in the original series, he responded with a definite yes. He clearly holds his own trilogy in high regard. Explicitly explaining how even Jackson's films after his (i.e. referring to The Hobbit franchise) were pushing the limit of the material. But admitted they were still very well done.

RoP, unlike Jackson's LotR and The Hobbit, is not directly based on the novels of Tolkien but an original story set as a prequel to both books. For Hill, this may be an unappealing depiction, misrepresenting novels he clearly has a lot of respect for. And he is not the only Tolkien fan to voice their criticisms of the show for this reason.

However, others share a very different sentiment on the series and its ambition to expand the narrative of Middle-Earth.

Fellow former cast member Viggo Mortensen (Aka Aragorn) shared his contrasting opinion of the show in an interview with GQ previously. In a very opposite statement to Hill's, Mortensen expressed his excitement to see the show. Discussing how he thought it would be worth watching (this was before the show had first aired) and that he was "curious to see how they interpret Tolkien".

Unfortunately, we do not know the opinions of other previous LotR cast members. However, the Hobbits themselves, Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, Sean Astin and Dominic Monaghan, previously shared a photo on Twitter of the four of them wearing shirts featuring the ears of Middle-earth creatures in various skin tones. Voicing their support for inclusive casting within the show. It seems just like regular Tolkien fans, even the LotR cast are divided on the merit of RoP.