CHARLIE VICKERS'S DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT FELT LIKE TO BE PART OF AN ENORMOUS FANTASY FRANCHISE, UNTIL HIS MAJOR BREAK-OUT ROLE IN AMAZON'S MEGA LORD OF THE RINGS PREQUEL THE RINGS OF POWER. HE’S HAD A LOT TO DO SO FAR AS CHILLING VILLAIN AND EVIL DARK LORD, SAURON, NAMELY BEING THE HERO OF HIS OWN JOURNEY TO CREATE LASTING PEACE FOR MIDDLE EARTH, RETURNING IN MULTIPLE FORMS, WITH MIND-CONTROLLING POWERS, AND SOME EPIC BATTLES ALONG THE WAY. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE AUSSIE ACTOR TO DISCUSS THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS SECOND SEASON FINALE, AND JUGGLING HIS SKYROCKETING ACTING CAREER WITH LIFE’S OTHER PASSIONS.

Full look **Paul Smith**, ring stylist’s own

Congrats on the season finale of the show, and Sauron was busy, what with killing Celebrimbor — and nearly slaying the Elf commander Galadriel too. When you read the script, were you like, yeah, I’m ready for this!

Yes! It was so cool, there was so much exciting stuff in the later part of this season, it’s a battle that goes on for two episodes and I got to do so much cool stuff, like the device that shows Sauron’s power that puts people in a mind prism, and he kills a lot of people, so getting to be that evil was quite fun!

Did you ever read any of Tolkien’s letters, about his perspective and the things that influenced him and how he envisioned his characters, to get into his mindset for the role of Sauron?

I did read his letters, and I found them useful for Sauron as he was very specific in how he imagined him and what he represents in the story. His intentions for Sauron were to create this evil character, but then he also wants him to heal, reform and rehabilitate middle earth, so I found those character-specifics were the parts of his letters I latched onto.

What about Sauron’s ability to shift into different forms. That must be great fun as an actor to find a different energy within the same show, challenging you to find new layers or dynamics?

That’s been the real joy of doing this role, being able to jump around and change forms, because it’s one of Sauron’s powers, and to lean into that makes it fun for me and the audience. I never thought I would be in a role this early on in my career where I would have the opportunity to transform and play around with this toolbox of stuff I have, it’s like being at drama school again, in terms of talking and walking differently and how he interacts with the world.

What do you hope for him in Season three?

Well, I don’t know what’s coming next! But if you look at it logically, he goes to Númenor, and he must make the one ring which will be a definitive point as it’s the ring that creates the whole LOTR mythology; all the Peter Jackson films revolve around that moment, and the trilogy of novels and The Hobbit, that all stems from Sauron making the ring! I think that would be exciting and iconic to see on screen.

What about the pressure of being in such a role?

This has been a new journey for me, learning to be part of a show with all the publicity that comes with it, and living in this world hasn’t come that easily to me. But I do try to forget about the project and the character once I’ve finished filming, I find it simplifies life. I’m not really involved in the industry unless I’m working on something.

Tolkien wrote work that was incredibly nostalgic for the past. Are you a nostalgic person?

I’m more excited about the future and what’s coming next with my family, my wife and baby. I don’t spend too much time looking back, but then recently I walked past a place in Kennington Park where I used to live here in London, and it made me nostalgic, thinking how things were back in the day. Weirdly, I remember spraining my ankle playing basketball there, not so nostalgic really!

Jacket, top and pants **Fendi**, watch **Montblanc**

What about those days when you first moved to London from Australia to go to drama school, what do you recall most?

It was a seminal moment that changed my life, it was my way into the industry, and that’s all I knew. I was going to the theatre every night and it felt like I was ‘in that world’, and that was my identity. The older I’ve got, the more I’ve learned not to wrap my identity up in being an actor, you’re just setting yourself up for a career of rejection! I find fulfilment in my life in other ways. But when I got an Australian agent and started doing small projects, I started learning more about the industry out there too. I think Australian film and TV keeps getting better and we do see more diverse stories about the country now, things that haven’t been seen internationally that much, and I would love to make my own projects out there, that’s the goal.

You obviously love theatre too; would you consider a stint on stage here?

I would like to try it for sure, but I’ve got a baby now, so it would have to be the perfect project to take me away from being at home with family every night, because it’s a few months commitment!

Well, having now played a fantasy villain, and Clem in the miniseries, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, who was a troubled character, are you looking to do something a little lighter?

I would love to do a comedy or play a nice guy for once! But for me, it’s project-specific, and when the opportunity comes, if the character excites me and I can see myself going on that journey, then I know that it’s right for me.

Left Coat, pants and shoes **Giorgio Armani**, hat **Emporio Armani**
Right Full look **Prada**

Do you like taking something from each character you get to play and learning more about yourself in the process. The cherry picking?

You always subconsciously keep things with you I think, but I don’t specifically take things over from other characters. There might be times when I will do something and maybe think, ‘oh, there’s a little bit of Sauron in that’, but I think that comes from living with a character for so long.

Any directors that would be a dream to work with?

I would love to work with Ari Aster or Christopher Nolan, there’s something about the way he makes films that excites me and reminds me of why I go to the cinema.

I never saw myself on screen in characters I saw in films as I didn’t think it was possible to be an actor, but I do remember when I was a teenager, going to see Nolan’s film, Inception, three times at the cinema, which is so rare for me, but I loved it so much. It was so inspiring, and I don’t usually get inspired by film, that inspiration usually comes from elsewhere.

Such as…?

I seek inspiration outside of work, from life really and the things that get me excited. I’m into sport, well, obsessed with football, I’m a spurs fan, have been all my life!

I’ve also just done a marathon read of books by the Australian author Tim Winton, and I love music, listening to all kinds of genres, like Jordan Rakei, who I saw at the Albert Hall the other night. I also play guitar, but just for my own enjoyment, I’m not about to unleash my music onto the world!

Let’s say a music biopic came along, who would you want to have a crack at playing?

Mika! I look a bit like him, if I shave my beard off! [laughs] But I don’t know if it’s too early to make one about him yet, or maybe do it as a musical, but I would definitely play him!

Well maybe Sauron will come back as Mika in his next guise! Either way he wants to conquer Middle Earth; what do you want to conquer in your own life?

Haha! Well, professionally I don’t feel any sense of ambition to conquer anything, there are no goals to achieve certain things. I just want to keep working for the rest of my life on projects that excite me!

Not even winning an Oscar?

Oh yeah, that would be cool! [laughs] I do have to say that personally though, my goal is to swim the English Channel.

Left Full look **Dior Men**
Right Jacket **Zegna**

Are you mad?

Random right?! I know someone who’s just done that, and I would need to live near the coast for all the training, and you’re not allowed to wear a wetsuit either, as that’s not deemed an official crossing if you do.

I’m imagining all those Sauron fans turning up on the beach at Dover…

Haha! He would have to wear his bathers!