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Lord of the Rings actor John Rhys-Davies was reluctant to take the role of Gimli, worrying that the film would never happen
John Rhys-Davies thought Lord of the Rings was unfilmable and his agent had to talk him into taking the job
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Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings is one of the biggest and most imaginative film series of all time. The adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s books leave nothing on the table and still holds up incredibly well today. The series has won over 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture for The Return of the King.
However, one of the actors wasn’t confident that it would be a success. John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the films, was worried that the scale was too grand and the film would never get off the ground.
“I had just changed agents, and my manager had been on this for some time,” John Rhys-Davies says during a Lord of the Rings spotlight panel at MegaCon 2026. “We had all done an audition. I auditioned for Denethor, and I thought, ‘Oh yes, a nice quick trip to New Zealand. This film will never happen. The book is unreadable. And it will fizzle to a pop. But yes, I’ll go and do it, and after a month in New Zealand, get around, see a country I haven’t seen before, come back, and resume normal life.’ And then they offered me Gimli.”
Rhys-Davies initially refused until his agent talked some sense into him.
“I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to waste three years of my life. And then the agent says, ‘John, I’m afraid that if you don’t accept this part, we can no longer continue to represent you.’”
Rhys-Davies says he’s glad his agent pushed him, because it led to one of the greatest experiences he ever had in his film career. And he owes it all to a stubborn agent.
Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:
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