It's no small feat joining the cast of The Lord of the Rings, especially when you're a major fan of the franchise like Gaia Wise.
The actress is at the forefront of the latest anime feature, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's appendices about the history of Middle-earth.
Set 183 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, the film follows the previously unnamed daughter of a legendary King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhead (voiced by Brian Cox).
Héra (Wise) declines her childhood friend Wulf's (Luke Pasqualino) hand in marriage, before her hot-headed father gets into a fight with his dad, the leader of the Dunlendings, killing him in one swift punch. Consumed by revenge, Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) sets out to destroy the line of Rohan and claim the crown for himself.
Though this is a new anime story, there are plenty of nods to the live-action films. And they are so exciting, Wise admits that she "squealed" when she read the script, spotting the final Easter egg at the end of the film (which we won't spoil here of course).
In an interview with 12DOVE, Wise says: "The Easter eggs were mad! I remember when I read some bits and I was like, 'I recognize that, I get to say it or I get to act it' It was insanely exciting. Then when I read the end of the film, I audibly squealed!" she teased, "When I saw it, I went like that (gasps)."
Her co-star Laurence Ubong-Williams, who plays her cousin Fréaláf in the film, says they are "forever at the disposal" of the franchise for future live-action spin-offs or anime sequels.
When asked if she'd return for another outing, Wise says it would "make me the happiest" and added: "Is the Pope Catholic? Yeah! There's so many directions that a sequel could go in following so many different paths that I think it would be silly not to! If we were given the opportunity and allowed, then I can't think of anything in a professional capacity that would make me any happier."
Wise was also thrilled to see that Héra’s relationship with Olwynn (Lorraine Ashbourne) was an integral part of the script, after the lack of female interaction in The Lord of the Rings trilogy ("It does not pass the Bechdel test!").
"It made me really happy that we're finally telling the stories of especially the Shield Maidens, because they float around in the trilogy, but they are so important to the lore," she adds.
"It also made me excited because there will hopefully be a generation of young girls who get to see this film and feel like they are seen and heard and empowered by it."
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim arrives in theaters worldwide on December 13. For more, check out our The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review, as well as how to watch The Lord of the Rings movies and shows in order.
