Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power, is a one-of-a-kind production, but fortunately, Nazanin Boniadi had a slew of past experiences that put her in prime position to make the absolute most of this whirlwind ride.
The show takes place during the Second Age. While it may seem like a period of peace and calm, Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel senses evil brewing and Boniadi’s Bronwyn comes face to face with that evil in Episode 1. Bronwyn is a Southlander. Many years back, their ancestors chose evil over good and their people have been paying for it ever since. They were forced to start from scratch by being banished to baron lands where they’re watched over by the elves. Bronwyn, however, is determined to change that. She aims to liberate her people so they can finally move on from their past.
With the first two episodes of The Rings of Power now available to stream on Prime Video, Boniadi joined us for an episode of Collider Ladies Night to recap her journey in the industry and pinpoint key moments in her career that prepared her to jump into this epic Prime Video production.
One thing that wound up coming full circle in an unusual way? Originally, Boniadi was going to become a doctor and now, on Rings of Power, she’s playing a healer.
“It’s interesting because I was gonna be a doctor and I was pre-med, so my degree’s in biology, and I graduated with honors because I worked so hard. It did not come naturally to me. And then, in my mid-20s, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go act now,’ and, needless to say, my parents were like, ‘Wait, what? You can’t just throw away medicine!’ And so I just started taking as many classes as I could. I didn’t go to drama school at the time. I think my advice would be to my younger self, it’s okay to make mistakes on screen and learn from it, because I had, as a lot of actors do, imposter syndrome, right? ‘I’m supposed to be a doctor. I’m not supposed to be doing this.’ So I think, it’s okay. Cut yourself some slack and it’s okay to learn as you go, and improve and grow.”
Boniadi embraced that mentality while building a filmography working alongside some of the best of the best in front of the lens and behind the camera as well:
“How I Met Your Mother was all about cast dynamic, having fun on set. Those showrunners, I just love them so much. Just the kindest, most nurturing, most humble people. And I learned what it is to be a part of something, even though I was a recurring role and not a series regular, of being accepted. Those actors are just so lovely. And then Scandal, the incredible powerhouse Shonda Rhimes is just a staunch advocate of all things good, I feel like. She taught me what it is to be a fierce female leader in this industry. And Kerry, too. Kerry Washington. From the top up, those ladies created such a wonderful inclusive environment. I feel so lucky to have learned from the best and come up through such great examples of what it is to be a successful — not only a successful show, but a well functioning, well oiled show.”
Another key influence in Boniadi’s career? Jon Favreau. Boniadi only has a single scene in 2008’s Iron Man, but it turns out, that was all the material she needed to make a big impression on Favreau.
“I just want to publicly thank Jon Favreau because he is part of the reason I think I got the show Counterpart, because Justin Marks, the creator of Counterpart, worked with Jon on Jungle Book, because he wrote Jungle Book, and I think he made a call to Jon about me and I think Jon spoke very favorably about me and my experience. I then bumped into Jon a couple of years ago, right before the pandemic, and he was so complimentary, so supportive and so proud that he had me in Iron Man and now I’m here … I think being in that world helped inform this moment.”
The cast of Rings of Power is certainly having a moment now that episodes are finally rolling out, but as Boniadi explained, it took a good deal of time to get to this point. In particular, the audition process for Rings of Power took far longer than her other audition experiences.
“It was a very long process. It was months and months. Four different auditions, one in person, three on tape because I was traveling around the world on various things. And just waiting. The anticipation of, ‘Surely we must have some news,’ and all I kept hearing is, ‘You’re in the mix, you’re in the mix.’ We hear that often as actors, but usually we get the answer to that sooner and it doesn’t usually take four or five months to hear what the outcome is. And so the anticipation was killing most of us. I think the journey was similar for most of the actors. And when I got the news, it was a very short turnaround, so it was like, ‘You got the job! You’re moving to New Zealand in like three weeks! So you need to uproot your life and move to New Zealand.’ And, of course, I was beyond happy to and excited and felt so blessed.”
Upon arriving in New Zealand, Boniadi got to film the first two episodes of the series with director J.A. Bayona, a collaboration that left her with a new tool she’d be able to put to use on future episodes:
“I learned so much from him because he’d do silent takes, so he’d play music in the background, but you wouldn’t say your dialogue. So you’d go through all the emotions of a scene. I’ve never done this before … But what that allowed me to do was sort of remind myself — because actors, sometimes we learn the lines and we deliver the lines and we think that that might be all there is to it. Of course there’s layers. But what that helps you do is remember the emotional context of the scene and not rely on your words alone … It’s a really fun tool to be able to remind yourself that a lot of the times, what we’re communicating doesn’t have to be through words.”
Yes, Boniadi delivers her dialogue with maximum conviction, but one can clearly see the value of understanding that emotional context and Boniadi’s natural screen presence in presenting Bronwyn as a promising leader. Here’s what Boniadi said when asked to highlight what makes Bronwyn stand out from the other emerging leaders in Rings of Power:
“I see her as a grassroots leader. She’s not an expected leader, she’s not a political type, she’s not a diplomat, she wasn’t born to do this. She earned it because she’s sort of someone who’s instincts are really strong, who has a strong moral compass, and is a unifier. It’s not us versus them. She seeks, what’s the best way to move forward and leave the negativity behind us and forge a strong future and come together? Instinctively she wants to overcome the bad in her past, the negative in the Southlander’s past and form a better future. So she’s a character that’s filled with hope and doesn’t hold on to the darkness. I think a lot of Southlanders have a hard time moving on from their lot in life. They sort of see themselves as the victims of all of this. Why are we outcasts? Why are we not trusted? Whereas with her, she’s trying to overcome that and I think that lends itself to hope and moving forward."
Eager to hear more from Boniadi on her journey in the industry thus far and her experience working on The Rings of Power? We’ve got just that for you in the video at the top of this article or you can listen to uncut version of the conversation in podcast form below: