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Spoilers follow for the first season of Prime VideosThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
For viewers watchingThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerwith some advance knowledge of J.R.R.
Tolkien, the dwarven kingdom of Khazad-dum is a place of both eventual tragedy and immediate discovery.
What does it mean to be a female dwarf or a version of a female dwarf?
Hell, theres got to be many different versions, and well all have different traits and different dynamics.
This is what we chose for her, Nomvete says on a Zoom call from the U.K.
Without even realizing, thats what we created.
I want to know what your way in was.My first in was the script.
I read the audition script at a point when I didnt even know who or what she was.
It felt like everything of me rolled into one bar her furious confidence.
(I need to get a bit of that from Disa.)
But it felt so close to me: her maternal nature, her humor, her groundedness.
All of that was in the text.
The second part of that process was I sat down with the lovelyco-creators and co-showrunnersJ.D.
Payne and Patrick McKay.
They said that she is the heart of Khazad-dum and the heartbeat.
They go to the extreme.
They love theyre breaking bones in a hug.
They hate theyre smashing an axe.
That is how they express their emotions.
So I started to play with the extreme and search for all the facets possible.
How would she feel about it?I started to dance with all those aspects.
Im fascinated by the resonating process.
I decided to sing Aint No Sunshine, and I had no idea what it was for.
That, to me, was one of the most exciting prospects about this character.
Thereareno imperfections, but theres a rasp.
We wanted to then figure out what that sound would be like.
We found this opera meets sonar meets lament.
It was just this medley of everything that I could find in my voice and soul.
We just started to play with vocals, and I remember thinking,Something just sounds empty.
Its not right,And I said, I want to write a monologue.
Every twist in the voice is a line.
Every note is a paragraph.
Every change in the voice is grammatic.
We started to really build a structure and tell a story.
No one had heard it.
None of the dwarves that are in that scene had heard it.
Me and him had a great catch-up the other day, and he revealed a lovely little secret.
He said, The best version of it was when you were in that room.
Time stopped, Roxana, that day.
I hear that there were people coming from other sets to watch.
I genuinely, as silly as it might sound, blacked out.
I think I released love, excitement, pain, fear, everything into that mountain.
It was a very special day, a very special moment, for her and for me.
She has her own story.
Shes driven, and she can see beyond anything.
Thats another one of her gifts.
She doesnt have the pull that sweet Durin has.
She just wants to steer him and nurture him, and she sees his pain and his struggle.
But she knows whats best for Khazad-dum.
She is hearty, a mother, a parent, but she is politically minded.
Shes fiercely loyal and protective and will push boundaries and revolutionize if she needs to.
Had you hammered metal before?
Or was that a first-time thing when we see you do it in episode seven?Never!
We had a blacksmith come and show me how to do it.
Owain was, like, in fear for his life.
He was like, I dont want to get anywhere near her at the moment!
But it is really hard graft.
Huge kudos to people who do this.
I had biceps of steel by the end of it and a slightly sore wrist.
That was the brilliant director and friend Charlotte Brandstrom.
She was like, I definitely dont want to see her making food or having a conversation.
I want to see her doing something.
Again, just giving a little nudge to another facet, which is her fearlessness.
She will roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty if she has to.
Food is at the heart of everything.
Were upset were gonna eat.
We want to come together were gonna eat.
Were alone lets eat!
Feed the kids, feed the kingdom, feed the family, feed the birds.
It always goes back to that.
Its all with the unapologetic gregariousness of that dwarven,Yeah, well say it where everyone else wont.
Yet now, here we are.
Nazanin was bridesmaid at my wedding.
Sorry, not sorry.
This is our world.
This is our culture.
We get to inject that into this world.
Food, family, loyalty, politics, loud!
Who else is going to play that part apart from an Iranian and South African woman?
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
