‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ costume designer Luca Mosca on bringing Tom Bombadil to the screen for the first time
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” costume designer Luca Mosca was in a unique position as he took over as the department head of the Amazon Prime Video series for Season 2. Mosca worked on the show’s epic first season alongside costume designer Kate Hawley before taking the reins for Season 2.
“I had the great advantage of going into Season 2 with a language that had already been established with the fabulous Season 1. So I could only build upon that and just add and make it better – if that was even possible,” Mosca tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: TV Costume Design panel. “So what we wanted to do in Season 2 was explore and expand each civilization and community with a broader scope.”
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Developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” takes place thousands of years before the events of the novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. As such, the series is based on the author’s history of Middle-earth with particular attention paid to the Second Age, when the Rings of Power are forged and Dark Lord Sauron begins to ascend.
In Season 2, Mosca not only expanded on what came before but was allowed to make “Lord of the Rings” history. For the first time in any adaptation, the Tolkien character Tom Bombadil was brought to life onscreen. Rory Kinnear plays the character, known for his yellow boots and blue jacket.
“The pressure was huge,” Mosca says of bringing Bombadil to life onscreen. “I know the story, I know the lore, but I know that there is an army of people out there who have a far deeper knowledge than myself in this incredible world of Tolkien. And so it was very intimidating.”
Mosca calls Bombadil “iconic” – particularly because Tolkien was so specific with his look. The challenge became keeping the character hidden from the audience for a bit, but still laying breadcrumbs for viewers to pick up.
“How do you put Tom Bombadil in front of the camera without giving away that this is Tom Bombadil immediately?” Mosca says. “It was a lot of pressure when you introduce for the first time, a character who is so well known and so iconic. What a responsibility. Hopefully, it has been well received.”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” streams on Amazon Prime Video.
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