We got a chance to see some of those costumes up close, all of which have been handmade and are intricately detailed (we had to be careful not to step on Míriel’s long and beautiful train!). Mosca pointed out a detail on Galadriel and Míriel’s dresses that likely will not be visible on screen, but that enriches the costumes for both the actors wearing them and the audience, even if they don’t realize it. “You may not notice,” he tells us, “but the silk satin underneath has been braided, meaning the dye goes from one color to the other. It can go from light to dark, and I think it is just fantastic because it’s not in your face but it is there.”
The same attention to detail goes into hair and make-up as well, although, in Gravelle’s case, hair and make-up designer Flora Moody had one less thing to make, as he came with one hair-piece of his own—his prominent eyebrows! “[Trystan] likes his eyebrows,” Moody tells us, “and we shaped up his beard and gave him a sort of 300 Persian-esque beard, you know, a bit stronger; in this season his character is becoming a bit more powerful.”
One addition to the royal court that might be visible on screen is a small shrine that has been added in the corner of the set, making it feel even more like a temple or a church. Production designer Kirstian Milsted tells us that the design of the shrine was inspired by an Eastern European church, particularly in the scallop-shaped details around it. “I really like to build sets that people believe in,” Milsted says. “You actually believe that you’re in a real place, not a film set or TV set.”
All of these rich details give the whole space a feeling of beauty and wealth and power that matches Númenor’s upcoming political storyline perfectly. Gravelle also emphasises Númenor’s island status and how that has an impact on his character, Chancellor Pharazôn.
“I think where his mind is,” Gravelle says, “because [Númenor] has been so insular, maybe it’s time to get on the front foot with things.” Unsurprisingly, Gravelle reveals he’s done a huge amount of background research into political theory to inform the character, including reading up on leaders like Henry Kissinger and Charles de Gaulle, reading books by former foreign correspondent Tim Marshall, and a book by David Fry titled Walls that left a big impression. “It was about people who lived inside walls, and then the so-called barbarians on the outside,” Gravelle explains. “And there’s definitely a difference of perspective and how they see the world. So when you build these walls, your reputation inside those counts for nothing in the outside world. And so it’s up to you to build that again. And there comes a fear, I think, and there’s a lot to lose. And so the height that you fall from is greater.”
The sense of political theatre in Númenor’s season two storyline is also helped by how much the 360° set, which is an unusual luxury on a TV show, feels like a live theatre on the day of shooting. The space can be used for intimate scenes with a few people, but it is also big enough to fill for a crowd scene, and Jones tell us that a few big crowd scenes have been shot there.
