‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power’ Actor Ismael Cruz Córdova Says He’s Victim Of Death Threats And Racism, Provides No Evidence

John F. Trent |

May 19, 2023

Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Queen Regent Míriel, Ismael Cruz Córdova as Arondir, and Charlie Vickers as Halbrand in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), Amazon Studios

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power actor Ismael Cruz Córdova, who infamously undercut Prime Video’s representation narrative that was used to justify race-swapping in the series, recently claimed he’s the victim of racism and death threats albeit he provided no evidence to support the claim.

In a FYC event in Hollywood to promote the Prime Video series, Córdova discussed his role as Arondir saying, “I had a lifetime of preparation for this role and I’ve been fighting for an opportunity like this one for so long. I’ve been wanting to play an elf for around 20 years, a dream that came with a lot of naysayers along the way.”

He then asserted, “By the time we started shooting, I had already faced a year of backlash: a lot of negativity, death threats, racism, all of that. I knew going in that I would have to be bulletproof to prove to all these people that I belong there.”

“Fast forward to Season 2, the love and support were concrete—I still get emotional thinking about it. The impact that it had was no longer in a vacuum,” he claimed. “I had thousands of hands holding me and pushing me.”

“I knew in the abstract what I was doing before but now I know the faces of those I did and still do it for. Now I feel even more galvanized and like I finally have a break from having to constantly prove that I belong. I’ve always known that I belong and now I feel like I can soar,” he relayed.

Córdova previously made similar claims in an interview with Esquire back in September right before the Rings of Power aired its first episode. He told the outlet that he’s received “pure and vicious hate speech” in his DMs for two years.

He added, “I fought so hard for this role for this very reason. I felt that I could carry that torch. I made sure that my elf was the most Elven, the most incredible, because I knew this was coming.”

“I knew that I would have the eyes of the world on me,” he relayed. “I needed to be undeniable, and to be the most Elven elf that I could be. And I needed my soul to shine through, too.”

Interestingly, before he started making claims that he was the victim of racism and hate speech, he infamously blew up Prime Video’s entire narrative surrounding the justification of race swapping numerous characters in the series.

Back in February 2022, Executive Producer Lindsey Weber told Vanity Fair, “It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like.”

“Tolkien is for everyone,” she added. “His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together.”

Actress Sophia Nomvete, who plays Princess Disa in the series, told PA Media at San Diego Comic-Con, “We are redressing the balance within the film and television, television industry and of course, this franchise and I hope, lots of franchises moving forward.”

“These are the best people for the roles but what they’ve done is open up the doors for people of all backgrounds to come forward and have the opportunity to rise,” she continued.

She would go on to assert, “To be the poster child and to fly the flag, being a mother, being a woman, being a person of colour, being a curvaceous woman deemed as a thing of beauty is something we don’t always see.”

“So that image of Disa… that is all of those things personified in a face, and it happens to be my face,” she said.

Córdova blew up this obviously false narrative in an interview with Entertainment Weekly where he revealed he “wanted to be an elf since I was a little kid.” In fact, EW detailed that Córdova recalled pretending to be an elf and using an imaginary bow.

Clearly, Córdova had no problems pretending to be an Elf despite seemingly never seeing an Elf that looked exactly like him. This flies in the face of the entire representation narrative spouted by people like Lindsey Weber, Sophia Nomvete, and even Córdova where they claim people cannot fully immerse themselves in a piece of fiction unless characters look nearly exactly like them whether that’s based on skin color or sex.

Nevertheless, Córdova’s recent comments appear to confirm that despite Prime Video reportedly losing 63% of its domestic audience, the studio and marketing team will continue to push identity politics and make accusations of racism against Tolkien fans in order to prop up the series despite it’s flagging viewership throughout the first season.