Actor Charlie Vickers showed off his versatility in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime by different versions of his character, Sauron for two seasons. Per The Direct, series showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay could only say good things about the Australian actor, who portrayed Sauron and his deceptive alter-egos, Halbrand and the Elf Annatar on the show, saying the team was “very lucky” to have him.

The showrunners discussed the evolution of Vickers’ character (or characters) over the course of the series thus far. “We felt like we had one opportunity, Season 1, to take Sauron the Deceiver and actually deceive the audience as well, in a way where people didn’t know which corner of the map he was going to come from, and you’re guessing, was it over here? Is this over there? And then ultimately, like, here he’s hiding in plain sight. And that was a really fun thing to be able to do in Season 1,” Payne said, referring to the character of Halbrand, who deceives Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) in Season 1.

The Second Season Showed Sauron the Deceiver in Full Force

The Rings of Power’s Season 2 saw the deception of Sauron on full display as he disguised himself as the Elven gift-bearer, Annatar. Payne said that Season 2 brought a completely new angle to the character, “where he’s gonna present himself to Celebrimbor, who he’s met before, and has to come up with a plausible story, you know about what’s going on. And says, look, Galadriel figured out I wasn’t who I thought I was. And for a second you think, man, is he gonna just come out with it and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ He’s like, ‘No, I’m this guy, Annatar, a messenger from the Gods. And we really loved the opportunity to reinvent everything about him,” he said.

Annatar Still Felt Like The Sauron We Had Met, Showrunner Says

Payne added that the Annatar character was a “totally new angle” for Sauron, with the long, blonde hair and “Old Testament, sort of prophetic garb,” but added that the character “felt commensurate with the Sauron that we met before.”

“And then watching Annatar, then just sort of kind of come out as full Sauron as the season goes on. You know, as his costume sort of darkens, his whole kind of demeanor sort of shifts. When you have an actor like Charlie Vickers, who can do so much and play so many different shades within this complex character it’s delightful as writers and showrunners,” Payne said.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving. We were very, very lucky to work with somebody like Charlie,” McKay added.

Vickers on Playing Sauron

Vickers, in a previous interview with CBR, talked about playing the Dark Lord in The Rings of Power and how audiences perceive the character. “I hope they watch Sauron and think that he does some cool stuff,” Vickers said. “It’s been a real joy, and I’ve tried my hardest throughout the whole thing to just try and ground it in the reality of the character that’s in the Tolkien books. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t cool,” he said.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Vickers said he is looking forward to seeing what his character does in the future. “This is where it begins, and he needs to conquer all the different parts of Middle-earth, be it Númenóreans, elves. And, he has these nine rings he’s just got from Galadriel. I think task number one is probably: Who am I going to give these nine rings to, to enslave them? He’s got a big to-do list,” Vickers said.

Season 3 of The Rings of Power was just greenlit, according to its showrunners. The first two seasons are streaming on Prime Video.