"I’ve been training for this for years. I was obsessed with those films"
Welsh actor Morfydd Clark on The Rings of Power, her ADHD and flying the flag for "female weirdness"
Matt Grace/Prime Video
- Huw Fullerton
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Welsh actor Morfydd Clark, 35, has made a name for herself playing unusual and unsettling characters in projects like Saint Maud, Dracula and His Dark Materials. Since 2022 she’s starred as elf warrior Galadriel in The Rings of Power.
Playing Galadriel, you’re following in the elfin footsteps of Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett in the Peter Jackson films — did you ask her for advice?
No, I didn’t reach out to her — I still can’t believe that! I actually didn’t know I was playing Galadriel until two weeks after I arrived in New Zealand for filming. When they told me, I thought, “I need to go home!” But then I thought, “Wait, I’ve been training for this for years”. I was obsessed with those films.
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So you’re a big fantasy fan?
Yes! I didn’t love school, I felt very stifled because I was fidgety and hyper-active and naughty. So I just loved delving into these fantasy worlds where I could imagine myself doing fun things and where being quiet wasn’t important.
You’ve spoken before about your dyslexia and ADHD — do they make it hard to learn reams of Elvish?
No! For some reason I’ve always found learning lines to be really easy. And I was lucky with the Elvish, because I spoke Welsh. They’re sort of similar in the sounds. I actually feel that the life I live couldn’t be more dyslexic and ADHD-friendly. You’re doing one job, then have a slight recovery period, and then another job.
I felt stifled at school so I loved delving into fantasy worlds
Your next film Starve Acre is a horror and your co-star is Matt Smith, who’s in the other big TV fantasy show of the moment, House of the Dragon — did you swap war stories?
Yeah! There was a lot of us saying “God, the armour is uncomfortable, isn’t it? You can’t sit down between takes”. I feel really lucky that I worked with Matt. My stars really aligned there. It was a funny, little coincidence that we’ve both been in blonde wigs for the last few years, rolling around in armour.
Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in series two of The Rings of Power. Prime Video
You once said that as a woman, the characters you’re playing in the theatre are usually more interesting than on screen. Has that changed?
I think it has, yes. We’re seeing loads more female grossness and female weirdness, as well as frightening women on screen. But we’ve got to see it as a continuous thing. We’re never going to have reached a spot where we’re “done”.
Do you feel you’re flying the flag for “female weirdness” with projects like Saint Maud, Starve Acre and the other films you’ve done?
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I guess so. It’s slightly weird to be made aware of your casting type when you’ve been acting for a while, and it’s like “freaky, weird, unnerving”. Is that the vibe I’m giving off? But it’s fun to get to play those characters. And I’m happy to be working!
Authors
Huw FullertonCommissioning editor
Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.
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