--- title: Sauron Not Played By Anson Boon in Rings of Power: Exclusive description: Fans have misidentified the actor playing a mysterious character in the Rings of Power trailer, producer Lindsey Weber confirms to TIME. canonical: https://time.com/6205023/sauron-the-rings-of-power-identity/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-15T12:30:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:38:30.035Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Rings of Power' Exclusive: Producer Says Fan Theories About Sauron Are Wrong og:description: Unfortunately the real Slim Shady Sauron will not stand up og:url: https://time.com/6205023/sauron-the-rings-of-power-identity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69c1e0c39e90ddbc/698a349347ca38c4f43b9e5a/amazon-rings-of-power-sauron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Prime Video og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Rings of Power' Exclusive: Producer Says Fan Theories About Sauron Are Wrong twitter:description: Unfortunately the real Slim Shady Sauron will not stand up twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69c1e0c39e90ddbc/698a349347ca38c4f43b9e5a/amazon-rings-of-power-sauron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Rings of Power_ Exclusive: Producer Says Fan Theories About Sauron Are Wrong > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Meet the Cast of The Most Expensive TV Show In History: 'The Rings of Power' [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Cast of The Most Expensive TV Show In History: 'The Rings of Power'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/r5YrRUWX.m3u8) (5:14)  _Published 2022-08-15. TIME sat down with five cast members of Amazon Studio’s new Lord of the Rings prequel series “The Rings of Power.” The show will cost over $1 billion to develop. Cast members Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Markella Kavenagh, and Charlie Vickers talked to TIME about their characters, filming in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what it means to join an iconic franchise. The series premieres September 2._  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 15, 2022 12:30 PM UTC TIME sat down with five cast members of Amazon Studio’s new Lord of the Rings prequel series “The Rings of Power.” The show will cost over $1 billion to develop. Cast members Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Markella Kavenagh, and Charlie Vickers talked to TIME about their characters, filming in New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what it means to join an iconic franchise. The series premieres September 2.  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Aug 15, 2022 12:30 PM UTC Sauron is coming. But so far, the Dark Lord hasn’t been so easy to spot. Fans are confident that the iconic villain will appear in [_The Rings of Power_](https://time.com/6197384/rings-of-power-trailer-breakdown-lord-of-the-rings/), the highly anticipated [_Lord of the Rings_](https://time.com/5919982/lord-of-the-rings-christmas-movies/) prequel that will premiere on Prime Video on Sept 2\. He plays a pivotal role in the Second Age of Middle-earth outlined in the appendices to _The Return of the King_, the source material for the show. But the series’ executive producer says that popular fan theories about Sauron and the actor who portrays the villain are wrong. Around the time _The Rings of Power_ takes place, more than 3,000 years before the events of _The Lord of the Rings_, Sauron is in hiding after the defeat of his evil master, Morgoth. He eventually disguises himself and goes by the name Annatar in order to trick the elven smiths into showing him how to channel power into the rings they forge, knowledge he later uses to create the titular rings of power—including the one precious ring that helps him nearly take over all of Middle-earth. **Read More**: [_The Secretive, Extravagant, Big-Hearted World of The Rings of Power, the Most Expensive Show Ever Made_](https://time.com/6205837/the-rings-of-power-amazon-most-expensive) Fans have spent months speculating when and how he might appear in the show. They’ve combed the various trailers and publicity shots. Some theorize that fans have already seen his image—or at least his Annatar guise. But executive producer Lindsey Weber told TIME the prevailing fan theories may be on the wrong track. When _The_ _Rings of Power_ dropped a new trailer at San Diego Comic-Con in July, fans [found a leading contender](https://www.polygon.com/sdcc/23274658/rings-of-power-sauron-anson-boon-annator) for Sauron: A new, mysterious character with villainous vibes and a close-cropped, bleach blonde haircut that fans on Twitter hastened to point out was reminiscent of Eminem’s iconic look. > [](https://twitter.com/MauLer93/status/1550558687084904448) Fans [quickly decided](https://winteriscoming.net/2022/07/22/eminem-playing-sauron-lord-of-the-rings-of-power/) that this character [was being played](https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1550555639977414656?s=20&t=EgHhRBo%5FI6-9A%5FB-RWgyjA) by actor Anson Boon. They’re wrong on that count. > [](https://twitter.com/CultureCrave/status/1550555639977414656) While reporting my recent cover story for TIME about _The Rings of Power_, Weber exclusively shared that the actor in that trailer had been misidentified. The mysterious person is played by Bridie Sisson, who previously starred in Netflix’s _Cowboy Bebop_. And while Weber would not confirm the name of Sisson’s character, she did offer a tantalizing hint about her origins. **Read More**: [_Exclusive: This Fan-Favorite Character Is Joining the Second Season of Rings of Power_](https://time.com/6205027/cirdan-the-rings-of-power-season-2/) “We are enjoying all the speculation online and can tell you Bridie Sisson is an incredible actor,” Weber said. “We also thought fans might like to know that her character is traveling from far to the east—from the lands of Rhûn…” Tolkien buffs will already know that Rhûn was home to a people called the Easterlings in the Second and Third Ages. Rhûn also happens to be Sauron’s stomping grounds. The dark lord consolidates power in the East, and soldiers from Rhûn fight alongside orcs and other men in his armies against the men of the West. **Read More**: [_11 Rings of Power Secrets We Learned From the Cast and Creators_](https://time.com/6205593/the-rings-of-power-secrets-cast-creators) But back to the Slim Shady lookalike. Could Sisson’s mysterious character be Sauron in disguise? I’m skeptical: The character appears to be too obviously evil—furrowed brow, hood pulled up, with a scowl on her face. It also seems like Sauron’s reveal wouldn’t come in a trailer but during some pivotal moment in the show itself. But this new character could be one of his servants, or someone else significant. [**_To purchase prints of TIME’s_** **The Rings of Power** **_cover, visit the TIME Cover Store_**](https://timecoverstore.com/featured/rings-of-power-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-photograph-by-bryan-huynh-for-time.html) ## Transcript We want to know and that we were going to do something that we didn't know how big it was going to be. Lost. What ended. even though it's at and Francine a Fantastical contacts, the medically, it still resonates, it's more fun and exciting to digest in the scope of fancy with costumes and and music and the sets the crew just put so much effort into Diet. The thing that special about glad reality is that token, change his mind about her a lot, you could debate, what her history and story is and so that was quite nice because there was quite a few structures of her that I could pick. I feel so lucky to play cards, official Disney play fight to one of the greatest actresses in the world. But she's been played by so many people has been kind of cartoons of hair. That's been play some radio stuff it. And so, it's really nice to be in that long line. And I, I will be the last glad really mature One thing that was hard for me was that I didn't see myself represented and in this was a pivotal thing from him. So he came back around and I heard about the character like a mission. On. There is a warrior you see his quiet nature but the intensity the depth of his love the depth of his curiosity. First go-round audition for a role and I don't end up getting it and I remember being crushed when I ultimately got casted as actually during lockdown, I kind of have that realization that pretty soon. I was going to be on a plane and be on the other side of the world and begin on this Grand Adventure. I just was really conscious of trying to be purposeful in this work and have it carry. A larger meaning was bigger than me, was bigger than us. I spent hours and hours, and hours, months years, poring through tokens back catalogue of work, which is so lost to me. It's going back to my character to how the real thing about making it connect to me. Was it's taking it from the page and from your research and making it into a physical thing. Beyond are wondering. The shortest day was so our Peninsula collaborative I'm not playing. You can entire disorder to have that while still respecting tokens working and the law better than be able to explore and play and feed off the United States. Incredible actors that I had to put that you're blocking with everything. Just felt like the environment was a character in the land. China Shadow Sly. There's something clearly so special about talking because he doesn't save his imagination was so vast, he wrote thousands of years of History, I've never read anything like that. If I have, I know that's been influenced by him. It was a whole language is much less vast world within that. It's cool. I like relationships and a good fighting against the evil things that we can connect to. I think that's what the characters, because they're going through things that everyone can relate to. You're the only one that can look like their characters. There was always an unprecedented aspect of it, if endemic, shifted everything for us, and we were away from our support systems. Immediately, we have to bond together as a journey went, everybody had each other's back. 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