Ismael Cruz Córdova digs into the process of bringing the first-ever Elf of color to the ‘Lord of the Rings’ universe

One of the stars of Amazon Prime’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is changing the way fans see this sprawling franchise.

Ismael Cruz Córdova, the talented actor set to bring the Silvan Elf Arondir to life on the small screen, dug into the process of bringing the first-ever Elf of color to life in a recent interview with Time.

The 35-year-old actor was an almost instant target of trolls after early images of his character in Rings of Power dropped. A Black Puerto Rican actor with years of experience under his belt, Córdova has been sidestepping racist backlash since the earliest images from Rings of Power dropped. As more details emerged, and it became clear that he was set to portray the first ever non-Caucasian Elf, the trolls only became more incensed.

Thankfully, the crew behind Amazon Prime’s upcoming fantasy series had Córdova’s back from the get-go. Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were quick to point out that, while the crew is “all up for criticism,” they are very much “not up for racism.”

This is great news for Córdova, who’s seeing a dream realized in his upcoming entry into the broad Lord of the Rings universe, as well as for fans, who finally get to see the world of Middle Earth diversified. The character of Arondir was created specifically for the series and thus isn’t an alteration of any of Tolkien’s existing characters. While racist backlash is unfortunately expected, it’s not truly rooted in any genuine criticism. The character was made for the screen and thus can — and should — look however the showrunners want him to look.

For Córdova, who grew up hearing that “Elves don’t look like you,” he says bringing the character to life in Rings of Power “felt like a mission.” And thankfully, following several rejections and a handful of auditions, he got the part. The opportunity to change this perception that Elves look a certain way is suddenly very real and could shape how fantasy proceeds from this point forward.

The Lord of the Rings franchise has long been the backbone of fantasy, and if Rings of Power is even a shadow of the books and films that inspired it, it could permanently alter the fantasy landscape. Córdova, and the many talented people joining him in the first season of Rings of Power, are leading the way to a future in which trolls are truly “creatures of dull and lumpish nature that had no more language than beasts” and not racist web-dwellers with too much time on their hands.