Who is Ciarán Hinds? Game of Thrones star set to join The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 cast

Ciarán Hinds has recently been added to the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2. The actor is probably best known for portraying Mance Rayder in the hit HBO drama, Game of Thrones.

In Game of Thrones, Mance Rayder was the leader of the Free Folk, and was known as "King-Beyond-the-Wall". He was feared by the Night's Watch, which he was formerly a part of.

Rayder was born a wildling and was proud that wildling blood ran through his veins. But as a child, he was abandoned. He was left at one of the castles on the Wall to be raised in the Night's Watch.

Alongside Ciarán Hinds, Roby Kinnear from James Bond, and Tanya Moodle from Motherland and Sherlock will join the cast of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power season 2. There isn't a description of the new roles yet, but all are recurring in the series.

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Ciarán Hinds has appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 as well

Born on 9 February 1953 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Hinds was raised as a Catholic. His father was a doctor named Gerry while his mother, Moya, was a schoolteacher and amateur actress.

Ciarán Hinds has appeared in a long list of movies with his career spanning almost 50 years. Some of his most well-known works are The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Persuasion, Oscar and Lucinda, Road to Perdition, and The Sum of All Fears.

He has also made appearances in films like Amazing Grace, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, and Munich. Fans would also remember him for his roles in There Will Be Blood, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Silence, First Man, and Belfast.

Ciarán Hinds was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Silence, First Man, and Belfast. He is also known for giving voice to Grand Pabbie, the Troll King in the animated film Frozen and its sequel, Frozen II. He played General Zakharow in Red Sparrow and Steppenwolf in Zack Snyder's Justice League and its 2021 director's cut.

On TV, Ciarán Hinds starred in shows like Rome Above, Suspicion, Shetland, and Game of Thrones. He has continued to work on stage throughout his career. Ciarán Hinds was listed as number 31 on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors in 2020.

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What is The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power about?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is based on the novel The Lord of the Rings and its appendices by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is set thousands of years before Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and depicts the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age.

The official synopsis of the show reads,

"This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness."

It continues:

"Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone."

The show was developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is expected to be released in 2024.