One thing that’s abundantly clear by the end of “Where Is He?” is the tides are turning for everyone in Middle-earth. Season 2 Episode 6 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power finds multiple characters barreling toward the point of no return in the overarching narrative. This especially applies to Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) and Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards), two Harfoots who find themselves veering significantly off the trail.
Recently, I had the privilege of chatting with Markella and Megan about their characters’ journeys in episode six and what lies on the horizon for our favorite nomadic best friends.
RELATED: Read our recap of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, “Where Is He?”
This interview has been condensed for length and clarity.
What Lies Ahead
Melody McCune: I loved episode six. It feels like all these storylines, including Nori and Poppy, are really starting to take off. At the end of the episode, they decide to stay and fight for The Stranger and the Stoors. What can you tease about where this fight will take them in the coming episodes?
Megan Richards: I think I would say to reflect on the threat that was said to the Gund and take that seriously. Hint, hint. But it’s still a good ending.
Markella Kavenagh: There’s lots to come; let’s just put it that way.
Working With Tanya Moodie and Nori’s Headspace
MM: Speaking of the Gund, Markella, what was it like shooting that scene with Tanya [Moodie]? Can you talk to me about what was going through Nori’s head during the Gund’s speech?
MK: Well, first of all, Tanya is an absolute legend, an amazing actor, a wonderful person and hilarious. I think that Nori, when she meets the Gund, is quite intimidated by her and also recognizes a protectiveness over her community that the Harfoots have — that Sadoc had and her family has. So, that was something that really struck a chord with her. Then, realizing the Harfoots’ home has always been something that moves along with them, it’s what they carry with them.
Whereas for the Stoors, it is much more grounded. There’s no liminal space. It’s very definitive; you can see where it is. You can see the homes, you can see what they’re building and continue to build. For her, that conversation, she realizes it’s not something that the Gund or the Stoors can pack up and move away from.
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It is something that is ingrained within them and bouncing off the walls that support their homes. Every single blood, sweat and tear has gone into building that community. It’s a very important lesson [for] Nori not to make such bold assumptions because the Stoors have grown up in a very different environment.
It opens her eyes to what she always wanted to do, which was to meet beings who came from completely different environments and circumstances and teach her more about what it means to connect and what it means to have a community.
Filming a Kiss
MM: For Megan — Poppy and Merimac share their first kiss in this episode, and it’s super sweet. How important was it for Poppy to find a moment of happiness as Middle-earth plunges further into darkness? Did you and Gavi [Singh Chera] get input into how the scene played out?
MR: To answer your first question, it’s completely unexpected for her, which seems to keep happening in her life. For it to suddenly be a positive amongst so many negatives, as you said, is surprising, but it’s also really scary. Being from a nomadic community, she holds her sense of home and belonging within other beings around her as opposed to a place.
RELATED: TV Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2
So, to find that within someone who’s new and has a different ancestral background is quite unexplainable, but I suppose sometimes those feelings are. She’s very much someone who goes with her gut. I think it’s safe to say that that’s what happens. It feels very seamless, which I quite like.
A Collaboration
To your second question, Gavi is a great actor. It was really lovely working with him and working with someone new. We had a really good, open working relationship from the get-go. We both wanted to collaborate, which feels fitting for the characters. It feels very much on mutual ground the way that they feel. When we were going through the scene, we did have talks — they’d obviously written the scene, but we could input our feelings, especially the kiss moment. We worked with an intimacy coordinator, which was my first experience with that. It is nice not to just talk about the literal, [which] becomes quite scientific — where you put your head, etc.
Also, to get away from that conversation and get to the place of why they are coming together at the same time. Where has that come from? So, it was more about conversations around the circumstances of the scene.
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Favorite Season 2 Scene
MM: This is for both of you. What has been your favorite scene from your Season 2 arc thus far?
MK: I love the scene between Gavi and Megan. I thought it was so well done, and my heart swelled watching them in that scene.
MM: Mine too.
MK: [to Megan] But I also loved the scene you and I have, where Poppy has this monologue. What she says carries along other storylines. It’s so moving about [how] sometimes you can’t fix what’s been broken. It really moved me to watch how Megan articulated those words as Poppy [that] reverberated along those storylines. Every storyline had common ground, even though they were completely different. That’s my favorite scene from our storyline.
Nori and the Gund
MR: Oh, thank you. That’s so nice. I loved doing that scene. It was quite an emotional day. I do love that moment, how the fact that all the worlds collide together. How could that be? They’re all so different. They’re all in times of trouble and desperate need together, which is quite nice for the series as a whole. I enjoyed watching both scenes that Markella’s got with Tanya.
MM: Those are great, too.
MR: I watched the one when you’re both sitting down, and she’s telling Nori why they can’t leave. Both of you were so present. It’s wonderfully written as well. You can really feel Nori absorbing all that and then coming to the conclusion, “It’s me.”
RELATED: Read our The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power recaps
MK: She always has to make it about her. Makes you realize how much weight is on her shoulders that she’s been carrying that she hasn’t expressed. I also love the Gund’s response, “Nori, no, that’s not what I’m talking about.” There are lots of honest conversations between the two of those characters. They get me every time.
MM: A hundred percent.
MR: Tanya’s amazing. She was so lovely to work with.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streams new episodes every Thursday on Prime Video.
Geek Girl Authority Crush of the Week: PRINCESS DISA
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
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