Summary

The War of the Rohirrim
follows Princess Héra during Rohan’s attack from the Dunlendings that forces them to flee to Helm’s Deep.
Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Williams discuss the challenges of voice acting in the film and introduce their characters.
Wise also comments on Héra’s relationship with Wulf, explaining how hate destroyed the potential for any romance.

Long before Éowyn (Miranda Otto) donned armor and rode into battle alongside the rest of the Rohirrim, shieldmaidens fought for Rohan. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim gives us a look at those stories when it centers the tale around the young Héra (Gaia Wise), the willful and rebellious daughter of King Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox). In War of the Rohirrim, it’s up to Héra to lead her people when they are attacked by the Dunlendings and forced to flee from the capital of Edoras to the fortress known as the Hornburg. If that name sounds vaguely familiar to you, you might know it by another name: Helm’s Deep. Trapped in a siege and struggling to protect the people while also fighting off invading forces, Héra comes into her own during the conflict and saves her people. However, the history books don’t remember her name and it is her cousin, Fréaláf (Laurence Ubong Williams), who ends up on the pages while she goes unnamed.

Collider spoke with Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Williams about their characters, who they are, and how they fit into Middle-earth. Wise and Williams are both first-time voice actors, so we also discussed the challenges of only acting with your voice and working alone rather than with other actors. Finally, we discussed the relationship that Héra has with the villain Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) and whether there is any romantic potential in that pairing. You can check out the full conversation in the player above or read the transcript below.

Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubon Williams Play Vital Roles in the Royal Family
“She is an avid rider, she’s adventurous, she’s fearless…”
Image via Warner Bros. Discovery

Kicking things off, I want you guys to describe and introduce your characters to people who might not know who they are, and how they fit into this world.

WISE: I play Héra Hammerhand. She is the only daughter and the youngest child of Helm Hammerhand, and she’s a princess of Rohan. She is an avid rider, she’s adventurous, she’s fearless, and her maturity throughout the film, the way that she carries herself, is a joy to behold.

WILLIAMS: That was lovely. I play Fréaláf Hildeson, who is cousin to Héra. They have great love between them, and he is nephew to King Helm. He is affiliated to Rohan through the family connection, but he’s also from the southern coastal region of Dunharrow, so he’s sort of an outsider and an insider simultaneously. He is a man of great honor and high moral standing, but he finds himself challenged and tested throughout this, but he stays true to who he is at all times, no matter how big the test.

Wise and Williams Reveal the Learning Curve That Comes With Voice Acting
“They say the camera never lies; the voice doesn’t lie like that.”
Image via Warner Bros.

This is the first voice role for both of you guys to take on. What was the biggest learning curve when it comes to being a part of a project like this? Because for people who don’t know voice acting, you’re not in a room with other people. You’re typically in a room alone. So, what was the biggest learning curve for you guys?

WILLIAMS: Well, the first challenge is what you just said — you’re acting to nothing when you first start. Getting to grips with that is a challenge, and I suppose getting to grips as quickly as you can was the challenge.

WISE: Absolutely. I think it’s also, if this makes sense, getting comfortable feeling sort of naked in a weird way because you really can’t have any sort of anxiety when you’re doing something like this. I remember when I first walked into the booth, I felt quite awkward. I didn’t know if I knew that I could do it. You have to make bonkers noises. I mean, he’s on a horse being chased by an elephant, and then he’s got to jump off the walls. I’ve got to do a load of running. Obviously, you’re not doing that and you can’t really physically move, so finding that in your body is really interesting. I think it does take a degree of getting over yourself.

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WILLIAMS: You have to get over yourself, exactly. You can’t hold anything back. It’s funny you say, once you have the nervousness or hesitancy, the microphone can pick up all of that.

WISE: They say the camera never lies; the voice doesn’t lie like that. It doesn’t. It can pick up the octave and whatnot and slight inclinations because you’re nervous or you’re not fully committed to the truth.

I can definitely imagine trying to pretend to run or ride a horse is difficult.

WISE: Fight sequences.

WILLIAMS: Nine o’clock in the morning with not enough caffeine, yeah, it’s quite a thing.

Gaia Wise Weighs in on Wulf and Héra’s Romantic Potential
“I think that if there was ever any love there, it was one-sided.”
Image via Warner Bros

Gaia, Héra has this storyline where she was meant to get married to Wulf, but then that fell out, and now she’s gone with somebody else. I think it’s interesting that this movie could have taken a path where there was a star-crossed lovers energy, but there wasn’t any of that, and I don’t think there was any push to make them romantic. Do you think there were ever any feelings that she had for him, or if it was all platonic? I don’t think she’s into the idea of marrying him, but he seems to be into marrying her.

WISE: They’ve always been outsiders. Even when they played as children, they had to hide it. At the beginning of the film, Freca comes in and says, “I’ve heard that you’re going to marry her off to a prince of Gondor,” and Helm says the same thing. He says, “You will leave our lands, and you will never know anything of our people.” But she is Rohan through and through. I think it’s purely platonic with her and Wulf. I think that if there was ever any love there, it was one-sided. I think that Freca has filled Wulf with so much hate that I wonder if he would be capable of love in the way that might be needed.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is in theaters now.

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The untold story behind Helm’s Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.Release Date December 13, 2024 Director Kenji Kamiyama Runtime 134 Minutes Main Genre Fantasy Studio(s) New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Animation , Sola Entertainment Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Expand