As anticipation builds for the new Lord of the Rings prequel movie, The War of the Rohirrim, two of its stars, Gaia Wise and Brian Cox, have shared how their personal experiences and backgrounds influenced their voice-acting roles in the film.

For Wise, who voices Hera, the warrior daughter of Cox’s Helm Hammerhand, a deep personal connection draws her to the character’s resilience. In an interview with Anime News Network, when asked where she would fit in the Lord of the Rings world, Wise explained, “I like to think I’d be like Hera. I try to be as much like her as possible.” Hera’s determination to protect her homeland and take space as a woman in a man’s world was an important point to Wise, who also commented, “I think any sort of female-led stories are important. I think for the franchise, it’s important because I think it’s the first time that you see the arc of this young woman. You know, you have fully formed women in the other films. You have Éowyn, and Arwen. And in this, you see a growth in a female character that you haven’t seen in any of the other films.” Notably, Tolkien’s entire body of work infamously devotes only a single sentence to the character: “[Freca] asked the hand of Helm’s daughter for his son Wulf.”

LOTR: War of the Rohirrim’s Brian Cox Brings His “Inner Savage” to Helm Hammerhand

For Cox, his harsh upbringing injects his performance with authenticity. Cox portrays the legendary Rohirrim King, Helm Hammerhand, and channels the character’s raw ferocity via his complex past. Answering the same question, the Succession alum reflected on how playing Helm tapped into a side of him shaped by his upbringing. “I think I’m inwardly quite savage. I think it appeals to my inner savage, and I think that was released playing [Helm] because where I come from in a fairly rough background. I’ve witnessed that kind of savagery and, you know, people of my generation when I was younger, so it was a natural fit.” However, Cox also emphasized the difference between his real life and the new on-screen persona. “But it was also something I’ve always carefully avoided, you know, in reality,” he stated, before adding, “But theatrically, of course, you use it.” Meanwhile, fans are likely hoping that the actors’ connections to their characters give War of the Rohirrim an emotional depth to help elevate the Lord of the Rings prequel. For many, while the film is set in the fantastical world of Middle-earth, the best Tolkien-based stories still ground the epic tales by amplifying real human struggles. As War of the Rohirrim prepares for its December 13 release, the personal reflections of these stars lessen fan skepticism, otherwise stoked by early lukewarm reviews.