Ismael Cruz Cordova on the controversy after being cast as the ‘first non-white elf’: “I loved the nerve that I pinched. I really do. I was so excited to create something new. A lot of people speaking on behalf of Tolkien, I don’t know if they understand the spirit of Tolkien”

Ismael Cruz Cordova on being cast as the ‘first non-white elf’: “I loved the nerve that I pinched. I really do. I was so excited to create something new”

11 comments

  1. Honestly…I didn’t even notice his race. His skin color wasn’t an issue for me.

    Eugenics Hobbits on the other hand, THAT was an issue.

  2. “I loved that the fans were angry” is the reason why so many series and movies keep failing.

  3. Colour blind casting doesn’t work in a case like house of the dragon when the physical features of the characters play a role in story for lineage reasons, or if it’s like a secluded village in the middle of nowhere where it wouldn’t really make sense for there to be a lot of diversity.

    With elves, there’s really no reason they all need to be the same race. They’re an extremely long lived, slow reproducing race, so they would take way longer to homogenize than most other species.

    I love fantasy, so I’m hoping the trend towards enclusive casting leads to more people watching fantasy shows and more shows getting made. If you’re a non-racist fantasy fan it’s all upside.

  4. Isn’t he also speaking on behalf of Tolkien?

    Anyway, he could’ve been purple, doesn’t change that his character actually managed to be the most forgettable and boring character in a cast full of extremely boring characters.

    The show just isn’t good, i highly doubt these people can magically fix it in S2.

  5. His character was sick af.
    Didn’t notice the race for more than a second.

    Fuck their haircuts though. That was Bullshit.

  6. I got the chance to work with this guy on a HBO mini-series called The Undoing, before Rings of Power came out. We didn’t talk much but he seemed pretty dang excited about the role (I’m not sure if they had filmed anything yet or if he was just cast and it was his next project after when I saw him). Nice guy, very professional, in my limited anecdotal experience!

  9. I have a hard time accepting that, sorry. Buzz cut elves shouldn’t be a thing, it is not natural.

  10. Elves don’t exist, but their problem is the color of said elf? Tells you everything you need to know.

  11. I didn’t get into the show but I did think he was doing a great job from the episodes I watched.

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