Ahead of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's long-awaited release via Prime Video, the show's cast members have told Newshub of their love for New Zealand.
The first season of the Tolkien-inspired series was filmed across Aotearoa before Amazon moved production of the show to the UK for the second season.
The TV show is set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books during the Second Age of Middle-earth's history.
Ahead of the red carpet event in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon (PDT), the cast say The Rings of Power is "as much New Zealand as it is us".
Actor Sophia Nomvete, who plays the Dwarf princess Disa in the show's first season, says New Zealand's DNA is part of her family.
"My daughter was eight weeks old [when we started filming] - when we left she was nearly two [years old]. That country raised her - and us," Nomvete told Newshub's Kate Rodger in Los Angeles.
"This is one community between the cast, creatives and the fans."
The show's first series was filmed across 18 stages in 38 different locations around Aotearoa.
It appears the bond shared by the new cast is similar to the ones shared by the original actors from Sir Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings' film series. Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Sean Bean all revealed they got tattoos with the Elvish word for "nine" during the making of the original trilogy.
"We had some great experiences on set [in New Zealand] - but mainly off set," said Rings of Power actor Owain Arthur, who plays Durin.
"It's such an honour to be part of it, to be immersing yourself in this wonderfully fantastical world," actor Trystan Gravelle said.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on Prime Video on September 2. Further coverage of the premiere will be published by Newshub over the coming weeks, including on this evening's Newshub Live at 6pm.
