Adar recast: why The Rings of Power switched actors

Adar has a new face in season 2 of The Rings of Power, and Screen Rant says the switch barely registers. Joseph Mawle had the part in season 1 of the Prime Video series. Sam Hazeldine has it now.

Adar is a character the show invented, not one lifted from Tolkien's books. Screen Rant describes him as a fairly mysterious figure through season 1, an Elf whom the Orcs follow and call "father."

Why Joseph Mawle left

Screen Rant reports that Mawle's exit was announced in December 2022, shortly after season 1 finished. He explained it himself on X, and the reason came down to the work he wanted next.

He sent his good wishes to the cast and crew and said he was grateful for his time in the part. He also wrote: "Though as an actor it remains my wish, my job description to explore new characters and worlds."

Since then, Screen Rant notes, Mawle has appeared in two more series, 1923 and Mary & George. Neither drew the audience The Rings of Power did, in Screen Rant's reading, though 1923 has room to grow as a spinoff of the hit Western Yellowstone.

IMDb lists one of his films in post-production, The Way of the Wind, a Biblical drama in which he plays Saul. **Reported:** Variety says Ingvar Sigurdsson has replaced him in the series King & Conqueror.

Why the new Adar works

Screen Rant gives two structural reasons the swap goes down easily. Adar was never a main character, and his screen time in season 1 was limited. The two-year gap between seasons did the rest, giving viewers time to reset before Hazeldine appeared.

His résumé covers the rest. Hazeldine played Barnaby in Netflix's The Sandman and Eredin in The Witcher, both small parts in large fantasy franchises, per Screen Rant. It says viewers will also recognize him from Peaky Blinders, Slow Horses, Rain Dogs and Masters of the Air, and from films including Ridley Scott's 2021 release The Last Duel.

What changes in season 2

Screen Rant says Hazeldine did not simply inherit Mawle's material. Adar was season 1's main villain, with Sauron kept mostly in the background. Season 2 reverses that, which shrinks Adar's villain role and changes the kind of character Hazeldine plays, without necessarily cutting his screen time.

Hazeldine's first scene as Adar arrives in the season 2 premiere. It helped, per Screen Rant, that Sauron was also newly cast in that same scene, which pulled some attention off the recast.

Screen Rant says Hazeldine captures the character's nuances regardless: his hatred of Sauron was plain in the first episode, so was his love for the Orcs, and his fear that Sauron would return lands in later episodes.

His look is a little different from Mawle's, and otherwise Screen Rant finds the two performances close. Both actors were good in the part, it says, and it expects Hazeldine's version to leave the bigger mark, because the feud with Sauron has more room to run.

Spoiler zone

Details from episodes that have already aired.

Adar is one of the Elves Morgoth tortured, per Screen Rant. The second season fills in his history with Sauron: Adar tried to kill him once before, which kept Sauron from ruling the Orcs.

Season 1 ends with the reveal that Halbrand is Sauron, and that is what moves Adar out of the top villain slot.

Trailers for season 2 pointed to Adar as a possible reluctant ally of the Elves, or at least of Galadriel, per Screen Rant. Footage showed the two of them in front of an army, with Adar's voice-over suggesting a shared enemy. Galadriel has her own reasons to want Sauron gone, so Screen Rant expects the pair to work together before the season is out.

• Adar
• Joseph Mawle
• Prime Video
• recasts
• Sam Hazeldine
• The Rings of Power