JRR Tolkien's much-loved Middle-earth returns to theaters in The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimwhich dramatizes the revolt of the Dunlendings against the king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. Set about 200 years before The Lord of the RingsThe film is based on stories found in Tolkien's Legendarium and leads to one of the most well-known moments in Rohan's history: Helm's Deep. Helm Hammerhand's act of impulsive violence against the Duenderling leader, Freca, set off a chain of events that ended in many preventable deaths, but also revealed the leadership and courage of his daughter Héra.
Brian Cox voices Helm The War of the Rohirrimlending a palpable seriousness to the role. Although he didn't like the franchise before learning about Peter Jackson's story, Lord of the Rings trilogy, he found plenty of meat in the character to sink his teeth into. The animated film uses the traditional anime style popular in Japan, and the rest of the voice cast includes Gaia Wise as Héra, Luke Paqualino as Wulf, and Miranda Otto returning as Éowyn to narrate the story of her ancestors.
TelaRant interviewed Cox about this drew him into the story of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. The revered actor shared the rich depth he found in Helm and compared his character's relationship with Héra to modern-day real-world gender issues.
The Helmet War of the Rohirrim is Shakespearean in scope, says Brian Cox
“I once played these roles, so this is mother’s milk.”
ScreenRant: Brian, as a Lord of the Rings fan, this film works on many levels. For you, what is it about the world of Middle Earth that fascinated you and made this role an exciting opportunity for you?
Brian Cox: It's a great script. It's a great story. I didn't know the Lord of the Rings. I wasn't a fan of Tolkien, but it wasn't that I didn't like him.
Through Peter Jackson I started reading the books and I am grateful to Peter Jackson for that. I really liked The Hobbit. I thought, “Wow…” It also reminded me of my culture, the mystical elements of things Celtic and Norse. Those elements that are prevalent in the UK and that we tend to forget. Tolkien captured this brilliantly, and the allegorical nature of his work was quite impressive, so I really appreciated it. And thanks to Peter, I really got into it.
But before, I was still trying to figure it out. I don't know. I knew about Tolkien, but I didn't focus on it. I had other fish to fry, so to speak.
ScreenRant: Can you talk about your approach to capturing Helm Hammerhand's demonic impulse and the mix of leadership with his role as a loving father?
Brian Cox: If you've played any major Shakespearean or classical character, there's always the element of obsession. They are obsessed – Hamlet is obsessed, Macbeth is obsessed, King Lear and his old age are also obsessed, and Othello is obsessed. Iago is particularly obsessed. I once played these roles, so this is breast milk.
To me, Helm is just something that's part of the repertoire that you say, “I'll do this.” It's like saying, “I'm going to play an Elgar suite” or whatever. That's what it meant to me and I thought, “Wow, that's obvious. They finally cast me in a role that I know I can play better than anyone else.” Without being too vain, just technically, I understand the work and what is required.
Especially if you're in theater, you understand that you have to modulate; you have to be able to tune quite hard in particular, allow the voice to get quite shrill, but then be able to modulate it, be able to pull it back, not let it touch you. You are still in charge.
My passion is radio; my favorite medium is radio. I like radio more than cinema. I love radio because you don't have to learn your lines. It's all there. You don't need to wear a costume or makeup. You're just in your own costume and you create a world, and that's the simple thing you do when you get to that point. You take the script and create a world.
Brian Cox explains the relationship between Helm, Wulf and Héra in the new Lord of the Rings film
“It’s the beginning of matriarchy…”
Screen Rant: Can you talk about the evolution of the relationship with Helm and his daughter, Héra, and what you hope audiences take away from their dynamic?
Brian Cox: God, I'm getting a little repetitive on this, but for me, it's the allegorical nature of the Rohan war. We start with a king who is a very ugly person, who is threatening, and I feel sorry for Wulf because he has such an ugly father. If his father were more handsome, we would be more forgiving of Wulf's obsession. But since his father is a rather ugly human being, not just in terms of appearance but in terms of what he is, you realize that poor Wulf is doomed. He's doomed from the start because he needs to think in a certain direction, and that's not what he's supposed to do.
The allegorical nature of the film, for me, is about how the patriarchy can implode on itself and how we are left at the end with the grand gesture of him closing the door and talking to her through the door, and protecting his daughter, and also cutting off the patriarchal life; closing it. It's the beginning of matriarchy and the beginning of something we haven't even experienced yet.
Especially with what's going on in the world right now, I think the film is incredibly allegorical. It really tells a story about us now as much as anything else.
More about The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (2024)
Set 183 years before the events narrated in the original film trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, an intelligent and ruthless lord of Dunlending seeking revenge for his father's death, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand at the ancient fortress of Hornburg – a mighty fortress that will later be known. like Helm's Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, daughter of Helm, must muster the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy bent on her total destruction.
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Source: Rant Plus Screen