Lord of the Rings movie adds Anya Taylor-Joy as brand-new character

Anya Taylor-Joy is joining the cast of the next The Lord of the Rings film, Warner Bros. announced on Monday.

She’ll play Seren, a brand-new character originated for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. She’s an elf who’s described as “a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil” (via Variety).

Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will direct the upcoming film. Recently, Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood were confirmed to reprise their roles as the wizard Gandalf and Hobbit Frodo Baggins, respectively, in the film.

Serkis set a new standard for motion capture performances with his portrayal of the pitiful, ring-obsessed Gollum in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The actor went on to use those same skills in Jackson’s version of King Kong in 2005, and the Planet of the Apes reboot that kicked off in 2011. He’s also used his extensive knowledge of CGI to direct Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The Hunt for Gollum will likely cover the time between Bilbo’s 111th birthday and Gandalf’s return to the Shire, covered in the first chapters of Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring but cut from the 2001 film. Gandalf enlisted Aragorn to track down Gollum so he could learn where Bilbo’s ring came from and whether it was actually the One Ring that Sauron was searching for.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is slated for a theatrical release on Dec. 17, 2027.

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