The actor John Rhys-Davies played the role of the dwarf Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. With his grumpy mood, he provided funny quotes. Especially his rivalry with Legolas is likely to be remembered by many fans. In a podcast, he honors his role and rants that he actually wasn’t very excited about The Lord of the Rings. He didn’t even believe in the success of the trilogy.
Why did he not believe in the success? According to Rhys-Davies, director Peter Jackson had no idea what it meant to make a big movie. At that time, he himself had around 30 years of acting experience and cited Shogun as a positive example of what a good series could look like.
Other well-known roles of Rhys-Davies included:
- Sallah in Indiana Jones – Raiders of the Lost Ark
- General Leonid Pushkin in James Bond 007 – The Living Daylights
- Professor Maximilian Arturo in Sliders – The Gateway to Another Dimension
He thought that the first part of the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy would be a flop. Thus, he didn’t see the other two parts in theaters but rather as direct video releases.
You can watch the humorous interview in the following YouTube video from Inside Of You Clips:
Gimli
actually wanted a completely different role
Why did he rant so much? Actually, Rhys-Davies wanted to play a completely different role. He had hoped to take on the role of Denethor. But the role was given to John Noble, and Rhys-Davies was offered the role of Gimli.
And the actor was not at all excited about that:
- In this role, he would have to spend 5-6 hours in makeup to look like a dwarf. His agent tried to reassure him that it would only take an hour.
- He would have to spend three years in New Zealand since a complete trilogy was planned.
- Two people would have been upset if he hadn’t accepted the role. His agent said that Rhys-Davies had to play Gimli to further build his good reputation. His son argued that the stories of The Lord of the Rings could be found in every bookstore worldwide and that his father had to participate.
Rhys-Davies tells this with such a grumpy undertone that a fan in the comments of the YouTube video writes that he would be the perfect angry dwarf. It is also funny that a man who is 1.85 m tall was chosen for the role of a dwarf.
How did he plan his exit? Rhys-Davies ultimately agreed because he wanted to see if his prejudices were justified. At that time, he had already come up with a plan B for his exit. After a while, he wanted to approach the director to ask him to return to his homeland.
As an excuse, the actor wanted to use his sick wife and family. This way, he wouldn’t have to be away from his family for too long.
Currently, fans of The Lord of the Rings can look forward to the second season of Rings of Power: The Lord of the Rings: The second season of “Rings of Power” is supposed to be dirtier and darker than the first
