EXCLUSIVE: Ema Horvath has been cast as a series regular in Amazon Studios’ high-profile Lord of the Rings TV series, I have learned. Reps for Amazon and the actress declined comment.

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Set in Middle Earth, the LOTR TV series will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. In the show’s core cast, which is yet to be confirmed by Amazon, Horvath is joining Will Poulter, Markella Kavenagh and Joseph Mawle.

As pre-production on the Lord Of the Rings TV series is gearing up in New Zealand, the streamer recently moved ahead with an early Season 2 renewal for the sprawling adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. As part of that, Amazon commissioned the reassembling of the writers room to break the second season.

In conjunction with the early renewal, the LOTR series will go on a 4-5-month hiatus after filming the first two episodes from Season 1, directed by J.A. Bayona. The writing team of the series, led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, will use the time to map out and write the bulk of Season 2 scripts.

The Lord of the Rings series is produced by Amazon Studios. In addition to showrunners Payne and McKay, executive producers include Bayona and his producing partner Belén Atienza, Lindsey Weber, Bruce Richmond, Gene Kelly, Sharon Tal Yguado as well as writers Gennifer Hutchison; Jason Cahill and Justin Doble.

Horvath landed her first starring role in Blumhouse’s 2017 psychological horror film Like.Share.Follow., while she was still a drama student at Harvard. This past summer, she was cast in Quibi’s sci-fi drama series Don’t Look Deeper directed by Catherine Hardwicke. She is repped by Buchwald and Silver Lining Entertainment.

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