celeb news Ismael Cruz Córdova opens up on horrific racist backlash to Rings of Power casting

[Broken]

 

During an appearance on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast, the actor tells me that an on-set therapist was on hand to offer help after the show received racist backlash against its inclusive and diverse casting. “You need support when this happens because the voices are so loud and they’re coming at you from so many places,” Córdova says.

 

The therapist was brought on board when production resumed shooting after pausing during the pandemic. Córdova’s character Arondir is the first person of color to play an elf onscreen in the “LOTR” universe. “It hurt,” Córdova says of the backlash. “It had a psychological and mental health impact. That’s something that I’m very, very open about so that people understand that what they do and say online really hurts people, really has an impact on us.”

 

It wasn’t just attacks on social media. “My phone got hacked,” Córdova recalls. “I had bank account attempts of being hacked. My PayPal got hacked. My friends got messages. I got death threats. I got things mailed to me. People found out my address. It was a lot of that.”    

 

https://variety.com/2023/film/columns/rings-of-power-ismael-cruz-cordova-amazon-therapist-1235622220/

[BNF91]

I don't care how you feel about the show. Absolutely none of this behaviour is warranted. I don't give a flying f**k how you feel as a fan of LOTR. Nobody ever deserves this for just doing their job. Poor guy. 

[siratakexxx]

They are worse than Star Wars fans.

[JBJT2786]

They found his address?! Jesus people are so unhinged over a fictional series. 

[Navy4Life]

He stays hot and rich and those losers stay bitter, ugly, fat nerds spewing racist nonsense out of their parents basement. 

[Helios]

When will white people realize that people of color arent going anywhere?

[Karla Cabello]

people truly want to live their aryan fantasy tru lotr but fantasy is fiction at the end of the day, and it can be retold in many different ways. elves can be black because elves exist only on the imagination... 

[PennywiseTheClown]

Rings of Power is an epic failure and an insult to Tolkien. However, the hate he gets for playing a black elf is absolutely unhinged. Death threats, bank account hacks?   WTF, those people need therapy

 

As a Tolkien fan myself I found the decision to include black elves to be stupid, but you should criticize the (white) showrunners for that. Not this guy who's only doing his job  By the way his character is one of the best on the show

[John Slayne]

that's so sad to see. he's definitely one of the best actors on the show and did a good job with the role. fandom can be so toxic.