It’s no small feat for an actor to come aboard a hit show and make a huge, memorable impact in a pre-established story amid characters the audience is already familiar with. But if anyone can do it, it’s Jamie Campbell Bower, who wrapped up his run as the villainous Vecna on Stranger Things at the start of 2026. He’ll next be seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three, which arrives on Prime Video next week.
Bowers plays Celeborn, a character J.R.R. Tolkien fans will know, and Rings of Power viewers with very exacting memories might remember him getting a mention all the way back in season one. But his place in the story is instantly identifiable: he’s the husband of Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), absent for hundreds of years after going missing during the war that also killed her beloved brother.
We’ll have to wait for season three to see how Celeborn re-enters the narrative. For Bower, the role offered another chance to come aboard a popular series that’s already midway through its run, an experience he talked about with io9 at a recent Rings of Power press day.
“It’s interesting because I think joining a show or a story that people already really love, particularly if you’re jumping into a character that people really love—of course, those are big shoes to fill,” he said. “So that there is a difference, but I think also, with regards to joining a pre-established show, for me, my biggest thing within that is I’m here to service the story; I’m here to service the world. I’m here to play with these beautiful people and to do what I can do within that with a level of respect and humility of understanding that there are people here that [started working on Rings of Power] six or seven years ago.”
What’s more, he added, he was already a Rings of Power fan even before he was cast. “I’ve been a fan of this show. So that’s the other thing as well: I get to come into it and, like, watch Charlie [Vickers] be Sauron whilst in the middle of the scene. I’m like, ‘It’s Sauron; this is sick!’ you know? You’re joining family. It’s like joining a new school. But everyone was lovely and so kind and so welcoming.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three begins November 11 on Prime Video.
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