Tom Budge posted a message to his official Instagram account that has added to the speculation surrounding the Amazon Prime production of the currently untitled The Lord of the Rings TV series.
In the post, he announced that he parted ways with the production, citing what appears to be creative differences.
The lengthy update revealed that it was Budge’s decision to leave.
“After recently seeing the first episodes shot over the last year Amazon has decided to go in another direction with the character I was portraying,” he wrote.
He then heartily thanked the cast and crew for the experience on set while filming in New Zealand. However, the end of the message gave further insight into his time sent onboard with The Lord of the Rings series.
“I sincerely thank the extraordinary cast and crew for their love, support and friendship over what has been a very difficult and unusual experience. Alas, some things just cannot be.”
Several other cast and crew have left The Lord of the Ring
As Den of Geek points out, Budge is not the first person to leave the production. Will Poulter (Midsommar) left at the end of 2019, citing schedule conflicts as the reason.
He was replaced by Robert Aramayo, most famously known as the young Ned Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
It is not clear which character these actors were playing, although it is rumored to be Elrond.
Along with Poulter’s departure, writer Bryan Cogman’s consultancy ended even before the pilot was completed. A variety of producers have also left, according to Den of Geek.
Additionally, prominent Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey exited the series. Amazon overlooked two other Tolkien experts, artist John Howe and film conceptual designer Alan Lee regarding their take on The Lord of the Rings.
Who was Tom Budge portraying in The Lord of the Rings?
As yet, the identity of Budge’s character has not been revealed by either Amazon or the actor.
However, it is known that Budge filmed scenes in the first episode, according to GamesRadar. This has led to speculation that his character might have been a substantial one.
The new Lord of the Rings series will be set in the Second Age section of Middle-earth history. This means that it will tell the story that occurred thousands of years before the events in The Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings will premiere on Amazon. As of yet, no release date has been set.