The Lord of the Rings: Amazon taps Markella Kavenagh as its first cast member for upcoming series

Los Angeles | Australian star Markella Kavenagh is the first actor to join the cast of Amazon’s much-awaited Lord of the Rings series. Though the details of her role are kept under wrap, the actor will portray a character called Tyra as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Markella’s past credits include shows such as Romper Stomper, the BBC miniseries The Cry and Picnic at Hanging Rock. [caption id=“attachment_7041651” align=“alignnone” width=“882”] Markella Kavenagh | Twitter[/caption] The streamer had recently announced that Jurrasic World: Fallen Kingdom helmer JA Bayona will be directing the first two episodes of the show. “JRR Tolkien created one of the most extraordinary and inspiring stories of all time, and as a lifelong fan it is an honour and a joy to join this amazing team,” Bayona said in a statement. He will also serve as executive producer alongside partner Belen Atienza. Bryan Cogman, who worked as a writer and co-executive producer on “Game of Thrones”, also boarded the project as a series consultant. He is helping out the writing team of Patrick McKay and JD Payne, who were announced as series developers last year. Amazon has made a multi-season production commitment to the TV series. It will produce the show in cooperation with the Estate of J R R Tolkien, publishing house HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. However, the series will not be a retelling of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy. It will explore story set before the events in the first LOTR novel, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’.