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The Queen's Gambit favourite Anya Taylor-Joy joins new Lord of the Rings film in key elf role
Taylor-Joy joins a star-studded cast of old and new faces to Middle-earth in the upcoming film.
Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage
- Patrick Cremona
Published: Tuesday, 16 June 2026 at 11:10 am
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Upcoming Lord of the Rings film The Hunt for Gollum has added another major star to its cast – with Anya Taylor-Joy confirmed for a major role in the fantasy movie.
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The Queen's Gambit star will be playing the role of Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm, described as "a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil".
The film will be helmed by Andy Serkis, who is also reprising his motion-capture role as Gollum from the original trilogy, while other returning faces include Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo.
It was announced in April that Jamie Dornan would be taking over the role of Aragorn from Viggo Mortensen, while Leo Woodall and Kate Winslet have also been confirmed for key parts as new characters Harvald and Marigol, respectively.
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The film is currently slated to arrive at cinemas on 17 December 2027, and will be set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of The Ring.
It focuses on a previously untold story, which Serkis has teased would "be a great marriage of a new story and an intimate story within the lore and world of Middle-earth that we all love".
Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. New Line Productions, Inc.
It's not the only Lord of the Rings film which is in development, with a project co-written by Stephen Colbert and tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, having been revealed earlier in the year.
That film will be loosely based on the eighth chapter of JRR Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, although it will be set after the events of the original trilogy.
Taylor-Joy will next be seen in Apple TV+ series Lucky, and also has a major role in Dune: Part Three later this year – having previously made a very brief appearance in the second film back in 2024.
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Authors
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
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