With ethereal features and perfect posture, Ismael Cruz Córdova is an ideal choice for a warrior elf named Arondir, writes @edockterman. The 35-year-old actor teared up several times on the show’s New Zealand set and again at Comic-Con. After five years of development, the “Lord of the Rings” prequel, “The Rings of Power,” will finally premiere Sept. 2 on Amazon Prime Video. With a record-setting price tag of $1 billion, it will be the most expensive show ever made. This momentous occasion is a lifetime in the making for Córdova, who has long harbored a childhood dream of playing an elf. He is the first person of color to portray one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s elves onscreen. Morfydd Clark, who plays young Galadriel, will also expand that iconic character’s story in what has historically been a male-dominated franchise. “I’m standing on the shoulders of women before me in this industry who spilt metaphorical blood to get to this point,” she says. No other series in the history of television has been this sprawling, this cinematic, this massive—or launched with such secrecy under such external pressure. Read more about the series at the link in our bio. Pictured here: Morfydd Clark (who plays Galadriel), Ismael Cruz Córdova (who plays a warrior elf named Arondir), Markella Kavenagh (who plays Nori), Charlie Vickers (who plays Halbrand), and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (who plays Queen Regent Míriel of Númenor); Photographs by @bryanhuynh for TIME