After seasons of waiting, Galadriel’s husband has finally arrived in Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Taking up the reins as the missing husband Celeborn is local franchise collector Jamie Campbell Bower. He’s starred in everything from The Mortal Instruments to Twilight and Fantastic Beasts. And now he’s stepping into the world of Middle-Earth as the counterpart to one of the most beloved characters in The Lord of the Rings; Morfydd Clark’s Galadriel.
Fangirlish got to sit with Jamie Campbell Bower for an interview about his role as Celeborn alongside co-star Charlie Vickers, who’s character Sauron also has a complex relationship with Galadriel and who we’ll talk a little bit more down below. And we talked about everything from Celeborn’s cosmic relationship with Galadriel to their first meeting. But we also asked both actors about being devoted and obsessed with someone like Galadriel.
Right off the bat, you can tell how much Bower loves playing Celeborn, who has been missing so long that when Galadriel sees him she drops her sword. And Bower’s love for Celeborn isn’t just because he looks like he was born to play this role or he’s a big fan of The Lord of the Rings. He loves Celeborn because he plays a character that has a powerful and timeless connection with a powerhouse like Galadriel.
“Stepping into it, I always describe the two of them as like the river and the rock,” Bower said, “And I feel like they both kind of shift within that throughout the story, and that’s beautiful. One is the rock at some points and one is the river and vice versa.” You can see that way of describing their relationship the first time they meet, their fight almost feeling like a dance with it’s give and take.
Even the way that Bower talks about Galadriel, you can feel his dedication to this character, but also his devotion to Celeborn’s relationship with his partner. “I think for me as Celeborn, being Galadriel’s partner and husband and somebody who loves her, it’s about seeing her, seeing her in her fullness and her sort of badassery and just being like, “That’s who you are. I love this.” And it’s amazing. We have that in that first episode where he meets her. She calls him out immediately.”
Talking about that first meeting, we wanted to ask him about some of the first words that Celeborn spoke to Galadriel. Because almost immediately there was a spark of a challenge between them. And when asked for his name he challenged her to a sword fight and said, “Touch flesh first and I’ll tell you.” This is the point where Bower starts laughing while his costar Charlie Vickers, aka Sauron, asks where that’s from.
Bower went on to explain the sequence to Vickers, both breaking out into giggles, “That’s from the first episode. That’s from where we meet. It’s a sword fight. But I had to take my sword out. So it was always about finding the appropriate moment to do that.”
Talking about Vickers, his character Sauron has had an intense relationship with Galadriel. He lured her in under the veil of Halbrand and has been messing with her mind ever since as a means of possessing her. And the introduction of Celeborn means that of course he and his wife will have a lot of catching up to do. A big part of that catching up has to do with the relationship between Galadriel and Sauron.
So on one side you have an elf like Celeborn that is devoted to his partner Galadriel. And on the other you have Sauron, who is giving obsessed. And we wanted to ask him about that complex balance of relationships. Before Vickers could answer Bower interrupted with “Yeah, I’m obsessed and devoted. You speak for yourself.”
In between laughs Vickers answered and said, “I don’t think, I mean maybe he wouldn’t use those words himself, Sauron. But he’s definitely… she’s definitely really annoyed him, I think at the start of the season.” Then looking over at Vickers he said, “They’re obsessed and devoted with each other. And I’m just an agent of chaos.”
But there is one thing that Galadriel has that he absolutely covets: her rings. At the end of episode 4 Sauron finds Galadriel and Celeborn fighting for their lives at the top of a tower in Gundabad. And Sauron was annoyed at how close he was to getting what he wants.
“It’s like he was really close to getting it back. And it’s weird because he hasn’t seen Galadriel in five years, which isn’t a huge amount of time for these people, but it is still… the last time he saw her, she jumped off a cliff actually after he stabbed her with the crown. So it’s kind of like he can’t control her anymore. And I think that really gets to him.”
Considering this is only the start of Season 3 of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, there are going to be plenty more opportunities for Galadriel and Sauron’s cat and mouse game. Until then, Celeborn will be catching up with Galadriel on everything that’s been going on since their separation. And we’ll be watching.
The first four episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3 are now available on Prime Video.
