“Judy and Punch” actor Tom Budge has abruptly departed the currently in production “The Lord of the Rings” series at Amazon Studios.
Budge announced his exit over the weekend on Instagram, saying Amazon has seen the first bunch of episodes shot over the last year and “decided to go in another direction with the character I was portraying.”
Budge adds that: “I must thank the creative team for their encouragement towards trying something that I believed was new, exciting and beautiful.”
Details of his character have not been released and it is unknown whether the role will be recast or if the character will be removed entirely as it’s not clear how extensive his role was.
The new series is set several millennia before the events of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” and will take viewers back to the Second Age when the rings of power were forged.
Robert Aramayo, Joseph Mawle, Maxim Baldry, Markella Kavenagh, Ema Horvath, and Morfydd Clark star while J.A. Bayona helmed the first two episodes. JD Payne and Patrick McKay are showrunning.