Anya Taylor-Joy joins ‘Lord of the Rings’ cast

Anya Taylor-Joy was a strict “Harry Potter” fan as a child, but now, having been cast in “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” she’s ready to dive into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien.

“I’m about to read the books now, actually,” Taylor-Joy told Variety’s Marc Malkin at the Monday night premiere of Apple TV’s “Lucky.” “So as a child, I had a misguided idea that you could only be a ‘Harry Potter’ fan or a ‘Lord of the Rings’ fan. Nobody told me that. I just came up with that on my own. Luckily, throughout COVID, I then watched all of ‘Lord of the Rings,’ and turns out you can love both, and you should.”

When asked about her initial reaction to getting cast in “The Hunt for Gollum,” Taylor-Joy said, “It’s so fun. I mean, if my tombstone can say ‘Lethal Elf,’ I feel like I did a good job on this planet. So yeah, I’m excited.”

In June, it was revealed that Taylor-Joy was joining “The Hunt for Gollum” as Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, who is described as “a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil.” She joins fellow “LOTR” newcomers Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall and Jamie Dornan. Dornan is taking over the role of Aragorn for Viggo Mortensen.

Directed by Andy Serkis, who will also reprise his role as Gollum, the film follows Aragorn during the time between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” during which he searched for the ring-obsessed creature. Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Lee Pace (King Thranduil) are all set to return.

Despite being replaced by Dornan, Serkis recently told the “Happy, Sad, Confused” podcast that Mortensen is “thrilled” about the direction of the film.

“I really, really don’t want to go into it right now because I do want to save that for, you know, further down the line,” Serkis said. “I’m gonna save all discussion about casting. Other than that, we are thrilled that Jamie’s doing it. I mean, we’re, you know, we’re absolutely thrilled. And, by the way, so is Viggo.”

-Variety