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Who plays Sauron in Rings of Power?

The Rings of Power is almost upon us and the TV series features lots of familiar faces from Lord of the Rings, but who plays Sauron?

Sauron in the Lord of the Rings

Who plays Sauron in Rings of Power? The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be the next major fantasy TV series to hit screens when it makes its debut in just a few days, on September 2. The series will be competing with the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, to claim the title of best fantasy drama series on TV.

The Rings of Power, which will be able to be found exclusively on Amazon Prime video, isn’t a reboot or remake of The Lord of the Rings, or any other Middle-earth story that we’ve seen on screen before. Instead, it primarily tells the story of Middle-earth’s Second Age, based on the information that can be found in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings appendices, and other mentions elsewhere within his Middle-earth novels.

Being set mostly in the Second age, the Rings of Power takes place many years before Peter Jackson’s monumental The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, it will still feature a few familiar Lord of the Rings characters (albeit with different faces) such as Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and Isildur (Maxim Baldry). The series will also include the Lord of Evil, Sauron. But who plays Sauron in Rings of Power?

Who plays Sauron in Rings of Power?

In Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power series, Sauron is played by the British actor Anson Boon. Boon has a relatively small filmography, which includes roles in 1917 and Pistol. However, Sauron will be his biggest role to date.

While plenty of Lord of the Rings fans will know Sauron from Peter Jackson’s films as well as Tolkien’s source material, the character actually has a long (very long) backstory that predates the events of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Anson Boon as Sauron in the Rings of Power

In the First age, Sauron was originally a lieutenant to Morgoth who was the ultimate source of evil in Middle-earth. Basically, he was the Darth Vader to Morgoth’s Emperor Palpatine.

Then in Middle-earth’s Second age, after Morgoth was defeated, Sauron sought to regain his position of power by creating the 20 rings of power, one of which included his One Ring. The Rings of Power series is expected to follow the creation of these rings, and their impact, as its major plot thread.

If you can’t wait for the Rings of Power, and are desperate for more Tolkien, take a look at our guide to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies.