John Rhys-Davies thought that 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy would be a disaster.
John Rhys-Davies suspected that The Lord of the Rings would flop
The 79-year-old actor played the dwarf warrior Gimli in Peter Jackson's fantasy films but admits that he had serious doubts about the project because of the director's lack of experience on major blockbusters.
John told the 'Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum' podcast: "I went with duplicity in my heart, to be honest with you, when I heard they were making 'Lord of the Rings'. I said, 'Oh yeah, good luck.'
"And who's making it? Peter Jackson, he's done one or two wonderful small movies. But let's face it, if you've got a cast of four and six weeks, anyone can direct a movie, and sadly do. But has he any idea of what he's really getting himself in for?"
The 'Indiana Jones' actor continued: "I did hear they were doing it, and I got asked to do something on tape. And I thought, 'Lord of the Rings', this is going to be a complete cluster whatever it is.
"I thought, never mind, I haven't been to New Zealand, go there, take part for a month, look around and walk away. Because this is never going to happen. He has no idea what happens when you make a big movie, and you know I've done some big ones..."
John also had reservations about being covered in prosthetics and spending a lengthy period in New Zealand for production – but his decision to take the role was ultimately justified as the trilogy was hailed by critics and audiences and won a total of 17 Academy Awards.
He recalled: "When they came back and said we want you for Gimli, I thought what the hell. I've spent 30 years trying to be recognised, what the heck? Why would I want to put myself in a prosthetic like that and why would I want to spend five or six hours a day in makeup?
"More than that, who wants to spend three years in New Zealand, in a film that actually comes out in part one, fails and the other two go direct to video or something like that?"
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