It’s one week before the premiere of the Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and Sophia Nomvete is holding court fielding interviews for her role as dwarf Princess Disa. One minute into speaking with Nomvete, and it becomes obvious why she was cast in the role — she draws you in immediately with her warmth, humor, and elegance.
She shares a story of how she met her husband, Daniel Cox, at a New Year’s party while she was nursing a broken heart after a painful breakup. Initially, Nomvete didn’t want to attend but went with a group of girlfriends. Luckily, Nomvete listened to her instincts; she and Cox recently celebrated 10 years together, and she credits Cox for being an attentive partner and parent, especially when she was cast in The Rings of Power. “In order for me to execute this production, and for me to stand in the power that is Disa, it took a man to hold my crown and hold our daughter every single step of the way, and that is absolutely to be celebrated.”
Nomvete would need all the support and community around her — all eyes have been on The Rings of Power as one of the most highly anticipated shows of 2022. It is currently the most expensive TV series to date — Prime Video acquired the rights from the Tolkien estate for $250 million, with production priced at $715 million. Since its premiere on September 1, the show has also been a target of racist trolling, with viewers accusing the show of having a “woke agenda” due to its inclusive casting with actors of color. The cast of The Rings of Power and even actors from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, like Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan, have pushed back against that rhetoric, however, with a campaign of “you are all welcome here.”
For Nomvete, the diversity of the Rings of Power cast speaks to Tolkien’s themes of unity and community. “We look to the arts to inform us and to influence us, and to excite us for an escape,” she says. “It is our creative duty to create a world, particularly in the fantasy world, where there’s license to do absolutely everything. Whereby it makes it accessible for all who are watching to move that excellence into real life. I feel that Tolkien has given us such a vast amount of literature and ideas in imagination, scope, and creativity that we must take this baton and run with it.” Shondaland caught up with Nomvete via Zoom to discuss motherhood, how she grew up biracial in London, and how she hopes her character in The Rings of Power will empower women of color.
REBECCA THEODORE-VACHON: Since your character is not in the Tolkien canon, did you feel there was pressure portraying Disa?
SOPHIA NOMVETE: The female dwarf as we know from Tolkien’s work does exist, so it doesn’t feel like she was created out of nowhere. We just haven’t seen them before in this way — living, speaking, breathing, making choices. What I felt like this moment was doing was rather than building something out of nowhere, this character existed. It was just hidden under a rock, and we got to lift that rock up and flood some light down on something that Tolkien had touched on. We took that little seed, and threw it into the earth, and watered it to create our Disa.
RTV: You auditioned for The Rings of Power shortly before giving birth and started shooting the series one year after. Did your approach to playing Disa change now that you’re a mother?
SN: For me, now being a parent has given me an exceptional amount of perspective. There were two major things happening at the same time, and that was the birth of my firstborn and the birth of this iconic, revolutionary cinematic moment, presenting this female dwarf. These were happening in parallel, so there was no choice but to put on your warrior armor and work. That’s exactly what I endeavored to do, to marry these worlds and these lives together. Not to set one aside while I must execute the other, or shut one down or apologize for everything. I was able to weave so many personal experiences that I was having in that time to the character, to Princess Disa and her arrival on-screen.
RTV: In episode one, we learn the backstory of how Durin and Disa fell in love. How did you and your real-life husband meet?
SN: We met at a New Year’s Eve party. I wasn’t even going to go to that party because some other dude broke my heart days before. A couple of my best girlfriends were like, “Sophia, enough. Come to this house party. We’re going to have a good time. We’re going to let loose.” When I met him, he told me I was the prettiest girl in the party. I think he said that to many people before he told me, but nonetheless, I was sold. I flew to South Africa not so long afterwards. I was there for four weeks, and every single day, without fail, we just spoke. Our first conversation was five and a half hours long on the phone. We’ve never gone a day without speaking to each other since.
RTV: You’re of African and Iranian descent and grew up in London. What was your childhood like living with these different identities and different cultures?
SN: My mother raised me, who is Iranian within her heritage. And yet in society, I’m a Black woman. So, it was interesting to be raised and nurtured by an Iranian, but my presence within society was that of a Black woman. People would usually only refer to me as the African side, literally, because of the visual. What that did give me was the best of both worlds because I was hugely held up and co-raised within the Black community where I was brought up in Reading. That was through friends, that was through our neighbors. I had a sense of belonging in kind of every single aspect — my mother, who taught me fluent Farsi. I really feel like because of the nurturing of my mother and being present in her raising me and that culture, and then being held up by the community that I had as a Black woman within my town, thus this concoction was born. Sometimes, it was tough; sometimes there was just confusion.
Sophia Nomvete attends the Los Angeles premiere of Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power at the Culver Studios.
I would go to Nowruz, which is the Iranian New Year, but I was also going to Notting Hill Carnival with all my fellow Jamaicans. So sometimes, I found it a challenge to be able to speak loudly and proudly, for fear of what society might do with that information. This is why this moment is poignant because we are in a time where we are able to speak, and use our voices, and be expressive and celebratory for who we are. And to do that in my personal life, with my culture and background, and to be able to relate that and put that into this show and have this now megaphone of a presence is necessary, and I do it for my brothers and sisters and children and generations. It is so possible, and it’s so beautiful.
RTV: What message do you hope to send to Black women and women of color through Disa?
SN: Disa has this amazing, incredible power where she is able to speak to the mountains. She resonates, and so she can speak to the earth around her and communicate with stones, gold, whatever materials. But she gets that from an inner power and an inner strength that she has within herself. It’s a gift. I believe that every single woman of color has a gift that has been instilled in us but somehow silenced. And I draw that out through my voice. I hope that we can take that metaphor and inspire all of my Iranian and Black sisters to find that voice and sing to the damn mountains. Because they will speak back, and they will look after us, and they will move us forward if we dare to own that, celebrate that, and recognize that within ourselves, to stand in our power.
Rebecca Theodore-Vachon is a film and TV critic who focuses on race, gender, and representation in Hollywood. She has contributed to The New York Times, RogerEbert.com, Entertainment Weekly, Fast Company, and Vulture. She is also the creator of The Spectrum Lounge, a podcast that highlights creatives of color in Hollywood and pop culture. Follow her on Twitter @FILMFATALE_NYC.
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