Actress Robyn Malcolm Wants a Female Gandalf for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV Series

New Zealand actress Robyn Malcolm, who played Morwen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, called for a female Gandalf in the upcoming Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series.

In an interview with Stuff, Malcolm tells them, “Those old legends, those old mystical stories, they’re so based within a patriarchal landscape. Why not look at the magic of a matrilineal world where the magical powerhouses are women?” She adds, “I reckon the idea of Gandalf being a kuia covered in beautiful moko and tattoos would be incredible.” A kuia is a female elder.

“We’ve got uteruses and back in the day there was a real sort of magic and sacredness and sort of brutality around that,” said Malcolm. She explained her reasoning, “We’ve had female Hamlets. Why not?”

Malcolm listed off her top picks to play a female Gandalf saying, “You need actors who have got gravitas and a real lot of personal power and a bit of brilliant – and they’ll take this in the absolute way that it’s meant- witchy poo energy, which those two have got and I aspire to.”

Her top picks include Rena Owen from Once Were Warriors and Rachel House from Hunt for the Wilderpeople. However, she would also nominate Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, and Maggie Smith saying, “Or if you need a big star and somebody that everybody knows and everybody already thinks of in Ian McKellen terms, then of course you go to Dame Judi or Eileen Atkins or Maggie Smith.”

YouTuber Gary Buechler of Nerdrotic responded to Malcolm’s call for a female Gandalf.

Buechler passionately states, “No. It’s time for you to create your own goddamned story.” He adds, “Now, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, that’s where I put my foot down and I have promised…I will dedicate my entire channel to bringing down Amazon if they screw with Lord of the Rings.”

What do you make of Robyn Malcolm’s call for a Gandalf? What about Gary Beuchler’s response?

Share: 
Mentioned This Article:

More About: