The actors behind the Hobbit ensemble in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy have addressed the backlash of Amazon’s diverse casting for The Rings of Power in the only wholesome way they knew how: By declaring their support for the new team and saying that all are welcome in Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

More than two decades since they set out from the Shire (or at least its production set equivalent in New Zealand), it seems that the cast of The Lord of the Rings remains an iconic powerhouse of cultural influence. Following the severe backlash to The Rings of Power, not the least of which included criticisms leveled towards the people of color portraying the new Middle-earth arrivals, Elijah Wood (Frodo), Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc), Billy Boyd (Peregrin), and Sean Astin (Samwise) have taken to Twitter to announce, in no uncertain terms, that “all are welcome here.”

With ears being a distinct mark of the Free Peoples’ race, the actors have donned shirts that depict a number of different ears in a number of different colors, with the writing in the Sindarin script no doubt reflecting that.

Several cast members from The Rings of Power thanked the original Fellowship for their support, Benjamin Walker’s Gil-galad among them.

Ismael Cruz Cordova, who has also been on the unfortunate end of this controversy, embraced this tribute by sharing a message of his own.

A long time has passed since this Fellowship was the word of every mouth, and yet, it seems the actors have not lost their touch, nor their unparalleled wholesomeness. Indeed, even if The Rings of Power never manages to come close to the trilogy in terms of objective quality, it’s still heartwarming to know that the new cast has got the OG team’s stamp of approval.

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