It turns out Middle-earth is a lot of work.
Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, premiering Sept. 2, takes viewers back to the lush fictional landscape created by author J.R.R. Tolkien. Set 300 years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the series covers the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age.
In order to do so, the series' production team worked tirelessly to fill every nook and cranny with as much detail and history as possible. After all, Prime Video spent almost $500 million on the Rings of Power production in New Zealand.
According to the cast, it was money well spent.
"I think, as actors, it was such a treasure," Ismael Cruz Cordova, who plays Arondir, exclusively told E! News about arriving on set. "I remember walking through the Southlands for the first time and understanding that I've never done this before, I'd never been in an environment like that before and I've been acting for like 20 years."
Maxim Baldry, who plays Isildur, said the sets weren't just impressive feats of production and creativity—but they made his job a heck of a lot easier.
"They built a whole city, as well, which was phenomenal just to walk through and immerse yourself," Baldry said. "It just transported you as an actor just straight into this world. So we didn't really have to act, just had to exist and be."
For Owain Arthur, whose portrayal of Prince Durin IV requires extensive prosthetics, the transformation, which he said takes three hours, was a huge part of his process—even if it wasn't always the most convenient.
"The best thing about it was that I got to wear it and I got to just really become a completely different person and a different being, as well. The worst thing about it is that I had to become a completely different being," Arthur joked. "The prosthetic nose, the wig, the beard, and the beard comes in like 16 different parts, so it's a process."
The prosthetic experience wasn't quite as tiresome for the actors who play the Harfoots, but that didn't make it any less insane.
"We were slipping around in big flippers that went up to our knees and holding each other up," Markella Kavenagh, who plays Nori, said. "Just the deliriousness of that during a night shoot in the middle of this huge forest, singing ‘Proud Mary' and walking in these huge Harfoot feet."
Doesn't sound like the worst time to us!
When it came to wardrobe, Sophia Nomvete, who plays Princess Disa, collaborated with famed costume designer Kate Hawley on the evolution of Disa's look. "We actually started off with a costume that was much more heavyset," Nomvete explained. "It was quite structured and sculptured."
However, over time, the costume began to mirror the evolution of the character herself. "We spent a few weeks on that and then at one point [Hawley] just said, 'What if Disa was really sexy? What if she had an unapologetic version of herself that we can just display? What if we put a great big gaping slit that goes to the top of her thigh?'"
And thus, Disa's signature look was born.
"Every pleat was hand-pleated with the most incredible silk over months and months," Nomvete said of the costume. "The stitching and the distance between each gemstone that's at the top, there was a reason and a story behind that. So that was the arrival for me, as an actor. The arrival definitely was when that costume went on."
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres Sept. 2 on Prime Video.