Ismael Cruz Córdova is moving among three radically different worlds this fall, beginning with the seductive psychological nightmare of Colleen Hoover's Verity, which opens in theaters on Oct. 2, 2026. Then he comes back as Arondir in the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. In real life, the Puerto Rican actor is in the Dominican Republic filming Porto Rico with Bad Bunny, Residente, Rubén Blades, and many more Latino stars.
"It's a great time. Busy, but amazing," he told this reporter. "I am having the time of my life."
InVerity, Cruz Córdova plays Corey, the literary agent and former romantic partner of Dakota Johnson's Lowen Ashleigh, in the highly anticipated adaptation starring Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford and Josh Hartnett as her husband, Jeremy.
Lowen accepts an opportunity to complete Verity's successful book series after a mysterious accident leaves the bestselling author unable to finish it herself. Once inside the Crawford family home, Lowen discovers a manuscript containing horrifying claims about Verity's past and begins questioning whether she has found a work of fiction or a confession.
Corey occupies a pivotal place in Lowen's story. Cheekily the actor describes him as sinverguenza, but suggested that the charming agent might still be a safer option than the people awaiting Lowen inside the Crawford home. "He is a player," Cruz said. "But sometimes the person you think isn't the best option ends up being the better option."
The actor admitted that he did not initially understand the size or intensity of the Verity fandom. That changed immediately after his casting was announced.
"My phone would not stop ringing," he said. One of the first people to contact him was his sister, a member of a book club whose friends were already deeply familiar with Hoover's novel. "She said, 'What? You're going to be in this?'" Cruz Córdova recalled. "I told her, 'Wait, explain this to me.'"
Facing the fandom
Cruz read the book, but he did not want to construct Corey solely through his own interpretation. Knowing that Verity had developed an especially passionate following among women, he asked his sister and the other members of her book club to help him understand how female readers perceived the character.
"I said, 'You are going to help me prepare because I want to know what women think, not just what I think when I read the book,'" he said.
His sister explained what Hoover had written about Corey, then offered the group's collective interpretation. Their principal note was that he needed an additional touch of "papichulo" energy, a combination of charm, confidence, and potential trouble. "I leaned into that a little more," Cruz Córdova said.
The adaptation was directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by Nick Antosca. Dakota Johnson also serves as an executive producer, while Hathaway is among the film's producers.
The Latino elf is back
Less than six weeks after Verity reaches theaters, Cruz Córdova will return to Prime Video as the Silvan Elf Arondir in the third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
The actor offered no concrete spoilers, but promised that the new season wastes little time before plunging viewers back into the conflict. "It starts hot," he said. "There isn't much introduction. We go straight into it."
Five years have passed since the fall of Eregion, and Middle-earth is now at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron. From his newly completed fortress of Barad-dûr, the Dark Lord is attempting to forge the One Ring while the remaining free peoples struggle to stop his march toward domination.
The first four episodes will premiere Nov. 11, followed by two episodes on Nov. 18 and the final two on Nov. 25.
Cruz Córdova believes the season is strong enough to function as an entry point for viewers who have never watched the series. "New audiences who want to begin with Season 3 can start completely with the third season," he said. "Then they can go back and watch the first and second, or watch all of them straight through."
For returning fans, he promised more of the qualities that have defined Arondir from the beginning.
"Arondir is, as always, a poet hero," Cruz Córdova said. "He carries his compass and his true north: dignity, discipline, and love. We are going to have much more of that." Will he survive the increasingly brutal war consuming Middle-earth? Cruz Córdova carefully avoided confirming or denying anything, but the answer as almost a spoiler: "My friend, I haven't swum this far to drown at the shore," he said.
From Middle-earth to the Caribbean
Written and directed by René Pérez Joglar, the artist known as Residente, Porto Rico is described as an epic Caribbean western and historical drama inspired by real events. The screenplay, written by Residente and Oscar-winning screenwriter Alexander Dinelaris, draws from the life of José Maldonado Román, the Puerto Rican revolutionary known as Águila Blanca.
Set during the late 19th century, the story examines Puerto Rico's struggle with colonialism and the events surrounding the 1898 transfer of the island from Spanish to American rule, when the United States began using "Porto Rico" as its official English name.
Bad Bunny leads a cast that includes Viggo Mortensen, Edward Norton, Richard Gadd, Rhenzy Feliz, Daniel Brühl, Rubén Blades, Alberto Guerra, Marcel Ruiz, Arian Cartaya, Óscar Jaenada, Carmen Machi, Luis Tosar and Cruz Córdova. Details about most of their characters remain under wraps.
Cruz Córdova refused to reveal even the name of his character, but he was considerably more open about the significance of the project."This is historic," he said. "We have never had the opportunity to participate in a production of this level, of this caliber, in which we have the first and the last word."
He emphasized that Porto Rico was born from Residente's determination to tell the island's story on a global cinematic scale. "This came from René Pérez Joglar," Cruz Córdova said. "This was his idea. It came out of his head, and he has been working on it for a long time."
Despite the number of internationally recognized names involved, Cruz Córdova said Residente has established one simple rule for the production. "He always says it: We don't want egos here," he said.
Filming in the Dominican Republic has also created what the actor described as a joyful Caribbean community. The production includes Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban talent, as well as performers from Mexico, Spain and other parts of Latin America.
Between Corey's questionable charm, Arondir's uncertain fate and the unannounced actress joining Bad Bunny's historical epic, Cruz Córdova is guarding secrets across three vastly different worlds. Most of them, anyway.
