Lenny Henry praises new Lord of the Rings series for featuring diverse cast

‘People want to see themselves,’ actor said

Lenny Henry has praised Lord of the Rings producers for the new show’s racially diverse cast.

The actor will appear in Prime Video’s fantasy series The Rings of Power as Sadoc Burrows.

In a new interview, the actor and comedian addressed the adaptation’s inclusion of non-white characters, which largely differs from JRR Tolkien’s original book series as well as Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films.

“That’s to do with it being the 21st century,” Henry told The Times, adding: “People want to see themselves.”

He continued: “Of course, if you go back, there’s going to be that thing that prevails because the books don’t say... although some of the characters are described as hard skinned and darker in complexion – that was then, this is now and we’re telling the story now.”

Speaking about pushing for diversity in the entertainment industry throughout his career, Henry said: “Usually, when you say, ‘Somebody should do something about that’, the somebody that you’re talking about is yourself.”

He namechecked Beverley Knight, Riz Ahmed and Idris Elba as people who are “now saying the same things that I started saying in 2000, which is, ‘The industry needs to change and can it hurry up, please.’”

As well as The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which begins on Prime Video on Friday (2 September), Henry will also appear in Netflix series The Witcher: Blood Origin.

In his new memoir Rising to the Surface, which is published today (30 August), Henry discusses finding a “meeting of minds” with his former wife, Dawn French.