The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has made Sauron a villain whom audiences love to hate. J.R.R. Tolkien created one of fantasy’s most epic antagonists, but the Prime Video prequel takes that a step further — most notably through the performance of Charlie Vickers, who has been one of the show’s standout actors. In Season 2, Vickers showed even more range as Sauron adopted the new persona of Annatar and found a new hero to corrupt.

In an interview with CBR, Vickers spoke about the effect that playing Sauron / Annatar has had on him. He revealed the challenge that came with filming the Rings of Power Season 2 finale and bringing the relationship between Sauron and Celebrimbor to a head. Plus, the actor also discussed why viewers can take something away from his character — and what aspects of Sauron are not entirely evil.

CBR: You’ve now spent two seasons portraying one of the most well-known villains in the entire fantasy genre. What kind of reaction have you experienced since The Rings of Power has reached audiences around the world?

Charlie Vickers: It’s cool, and that’s one of the things that I like. People can take from the character. I hope that they watch Sauron and think that he does some cool stuff. It’s been a real joy, and I’ve tried my hardest throughout the whole thing to just try and ground it in the reality of the character that’s in the Tolkien books. But I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t cool.

There’s the saying that the best villains don’t perceive themselves as villains, and that’s true in Sauron’s case. He genuinely believes he’s doing what’s best for Middle-earth. After the events of Season 2, is that still true — or do you think he’s managed to even deceive himself?

I think it’s true. I think the first time he starts to question that is in Celebrimbor’s death scene, when he says you’ve deceiving yourself, the rings are controlling you, you’re not controlling them. That kind of gives him a moment of self-reflection and makes him angry — because it’s crushing, that feeling of incompetence, and there’s a whole bunch of stuff in his past. But it’s the complexity that emerges towards the end of the season that makes it really interesting.

That scene is so important not only for The Rings of Power, but also for you because so much of your work in Season 2 was just between you and Charles Edwards, who plays Celebrimbor. What was it like for you to spend so much time working with Charles, and then to have to say goodbye to your primary scene partner?

It was a profound day. It was, I think, the last thing we filmed, because we filmed in order. And it was a big day, because it’s this real canonical bit of the book — where you fill the body with arrows and [a] really cool, huge scene with physicality and wide-ranging emotions. Filming his death scene, when he’s hoisted up onto the thing, [was] really emotional. Charles does such a beautiful, poignant performance and has his dying words, which are almost like a curse. He uses you’re the Lord of the Rings, curse of Sauron. So it was a sad day, because it was such a special period of time, us filming this relationship.

The relationship with Celebrimbor essentially replaced the dynamic that Sauron and Galadriel had in Season 1, when he tried to recruit her to his cause. How would you describe his feelings toward her now that he’s had a whole season to focus on someone else? Has he moved on from wanting her to rule alongside him?

I think there’s an element of him being like, well, look what happened. Look what you made me do. I’ve destroyed Eregion. It didn’t have to be like this had you joined me. It could have been much easier than this. He makes one last ditch attempt to get her to join him again, and she says no, and then I think he realizes he’s been underestimating her. That she is stronger than he thought. He realizes that she’s going to be a proper adversary from this point in time.

So much of the appeal of his character is that The Rings of Power viewers never really know what he’s going to do. Is there any part of the character that you feel audiences have overlooked?

I love the history of the character, in the sense of his craftsmanship and how he has this appreciation for craft. He was a student of Aulé, the smith of the Maiar, and he was Mairon . He was not evil in the beginning. I think that often Sauron can be interpreted in popular culture as just a giant evil flaming eye, and it’s been nice to present these different Interpretations of him… these other aspects of him that can be viewed as good from our perspective.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video.