The Rings of Power S03: Muhafidin Teases Theo's Journey, Standing Out

Posted in: Amazon Studios, Lord of The Rings, TV | Tagged: lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the rings of power

The Rings of Power S03: Muhafidin Teases Theo's Journey, Standing Out

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star Tyroe Muhafidin discusses what's ahead for Theo and his struggles, the showrunners, and more.

Published Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:37:08 -0600
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 will push Theo to a breaking point, as Tyroe Muhafidin teases pain, loss, and desperation.
• Muhafidin says Rings of Power’s TV format gives Theo more room to grow than a film, helping him stand out in the ensemble.
• Theo’s arc was carefully guided by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who revealed his path piece by piece.
• As an original Rings of Power character, Theo brought freedom and pressure, while filming posed intense studio and location challenges.

It's easy to get lost in an ensemble sometimes, especially in such a stacked cast as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as things start to seriously ramp up with Sauron (Charlie Vickers looking to build the One Ring. Tyroe Muhafidin, who plays original character Theo, is on a journey of his own, carefully crafted by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, as he and his family get caught in the chaos while battling the dark forces and an orc army. In part one of our interview, Muhafidin spoke to Bleeding Cool about teasing the path Theo will take and where that pain may go, why a TV series rather than a feature film is the best way for Theo to stand out in such a character-driven story, if he feels less pressure because he's not playing a legacy character, and the environmental and physical challenges on set.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Star Tyroe Muhafidin on Theo's Journey to Season 3 and More

Bleeding Cool: You went from being heavily involved in the first season to fewer episodes in the second season. How would you describe your journey as Theo in season three?

Muhafidin: I'd say his journey this season definitely. His character kind of fully takes shape this season get to see the effects of what the first two seasons had on him, and we find him at a point now this season where I think all the pain is built up, all the hope is lost, and he is just becoming desperate for some sort of a life, I guess

Now that you've entrenched yourself in one of the biggest IPs around, how do you feel you've adjusted to episodic TV, and what do you enjoy most about it?

Oh, I think it's great because we have so much time when it comes to TV. We spent the last season like eight months on this, so one great thing is I'll have eight months of work each time, which is great. There's also eight hours of screen time rather than just like two for a feature film. There is so much room to develop characters and stuff. You know, playing a smaller role if it was just a film, I wouldn't have nearly as much screen time, so I guess that's also a bonus to episodic TV.

How did JD and Patrick help you in terms of how they helped you handle your character, story, and what do you like about working with them as showrunners as an original character?

They've been great from the get-go. They've put so much trust in me, and I think the big thing was I came in this young and nervous. They really kind of settled me in, made me feel comfortable, and also made me feel like I belonged, which was a big thing. It was such a scary space and I'm surrounded by so many professionals and whatnot. It was my first time in that sort of environment, so they really put an arm around me and helped me in that sense.

The interesting thing about Theo is we never knew where he was going to go, but they had a plan the whole time. They drip-fed me information bit by bit, because if I knew Theo's trajectory from the start, things would have been played differently. So, I think really we were careful in what information I had so I could kind of play every beat in the moment and as natural to the character as possible. It was really great.

What has the reception been from fans playing an original character? Do you feel that you don't have as much pressure as, say, what Morfydd (Clark) or Charlie (Vickers) playing legacy characters?

I think that's a great thing about being an original character: there was a lot of space and room to create something, I guess, in a way at the same time though, there are cons to it too, where Charlie, Morfydd, and, say, Maxim, for example, all have hundreds, thousands of pages of source material to gauge character work from and to gauge information from, which I kind of had nothing. I had to go off kind of other Tolkienian characters, look at the themes within them, and kind of incorporate that into the character. I would definitely say maybe there is some pressure that isn't on me that's more on them, but I think every project has bigger roles and smaller roles. It's up to the person and how they deal with pressure. I don't think it's really been too big of a deal for me when it comes to fan reception, because I think for me, everything's been positive, and I don't think people have really been that mean, which is nice.

What do you like about just filming on location, and was there anything grueling about being on set and on location?

This season I don't think I did any location. I did one day out in the woods, so that was it was actually quite nice, because the first two seasons, I spent most of my time on location, and that was always kind of really grueling. After all, you know, we're there from the earliest hours of the morning to some of the latest night hours sometimes, and it's freezing. Sometimes, you've just got whatever you've got for your costume, so if it's a really cold day, if it is the middle of the night, and we're doing a night shoot, It'll be completely freezing, but you're not allowed to have a jacket on, because your character wouldn't be having a jacket.

Those are the things that suck about being on location, 2hereas when you're in a studio, you can get heaters and whatnot, but it also works the other way. Being in a studio, sometimes I'll be wearing a bunch of layers in my costume, and it'll be so hot. Since we're in a studio, they can't turn the air conditioner on because of sound, so then you're in this sweltering hot environment, and you kind of wish you were outside. I think there are bits and bits of both, but yeah, it's great to be on the sets and be in a world. I think that's a great thing about this job is that we go to some magnificent sites and to be able to film there, and spend a day in some beautiful landscapes. It's such a blessing.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which also stars Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Trystan Gravelle, Lloyd Owen, Andrew Richardson, Benjamin Walker, and Daniel Weyman, premieres its first four episodes on November 11th on Prime Video.

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