Peterhead-born actor Peter Mullan didn’t read any Tolkien novels before starring in the prequel series – The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The veteran actor, 63, has clocked up major movie credits like War Horse, Children of Men, Trainspotting and Braveheart.
He has also had recurring roles in fantasy TV series, including Ozark, Cursed and Westworld.
Known for his steep, soothing Scottish brogue, he is the perfect choice for Dwarven King Durin III, who plays a pivotal role in the events of the series.
His stoic and conservative leadership of the thriving Second Age kingdom of Khazad-dûm set the stage for the destructive events that follow.
However, while he may be the perfect choice for the character, Mr Mullan revealed in a recent interview he had not read any of the source material from author J.R.R Tolkien.
The author is, of course, known for his series The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit which were turned into ground-breaking high fantasy films.
Mr Mullan says not reading the books is part of his acting style because
the series “was all a prequel – or it was all based on footnotes and stuff”.
Peter Mullan: ‘For me, you have to work within’
He went on to say: “Anytime I’ve done anything that was an adaptation of a book, I would never read the book beforehand. It’s not to be wilfully ignorant by any means; it’s that you are working on the script. I know other actors wouldn’t feel this way, but for me, you have to work within.”
He only read the scenes that he was in instead of the full scripts to mimic working in a complete vacuum.
To demonstrate how he approached his role, Mr Mullan offered up a strange analogy involving monkey infused-golf.
He said: “There’s an age-old thing where, when they played golf, the monkeys used to come and pick the balls up and throw them all over the place. They established a kind of rule in their playing of golf, which was that wherever the monkey drops the ball is where you play.
“It was the same thing here. Wherever the monkey dropped the ball, you just have to play.
“You may argue with it, you might not like it, but the bottom line is it’s where the monkey dropped the ball. That’s how I approached this.”
Peter Mullan will continue in his role as King Durin III in the hotly anticipated second series.
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