John Rhys-Davies, Gimli
London, UK, August 2003
What are your memories of
first getting the role of Gimli ?
I didn't want to play Gimli. An actor spends all of his life trying to be
recognised, and it seemed quite absurd to actually end up putting full
prosthetic on. But I finally got bullied into this. My agent said, "If you
turn this part down, I don't think I can represent you ever again." And
secondly, my beloved number one son, Ben, said, "Dad, with all due respect,
if you turn this down, you're nuts." I said, "Why is that ?" And
he said, "Well think about it : in every bookshop in the reading world
since 1954, there have been at least two feet of book-space devoted to Tolkien.
Think about what that means" Thank God there's some bright spark in the
family.
What is your character's
defining moment ?
When he meets the queen of the Elves, having said, "There's a great
sorceress in this forest and when men set their eyes on her, they're
enchanted." I remember once, I had the chance to meet Julie Christie. Her
beauty was so incandescent that it made my bones ache. That's what I was looking
for in Gimli.
What is your fondest memory
of New Zealand ?
Lovely country, lovely people. Everyone should go to New Zealand. I just bought
a few acres of olive trees - dwarf olives, I had to add - and that's my excuse.
Describe Peter Jackson in
three words.
The. Great. Director.
Are your Rings colleagues
going to be friends for life ?
Well, we tend to be working actors. But if you know that somebody's going to be
working on a film with someone - say, if young Orlando is on a film and I know
someone who's going out there - I say, "Send my felicitations to young
Orlando." I have very happy memories of the wonderful strong and lovely
gentleman, Sean Bean. I was so impressed by our young Frodo, he was so mature,
so giving, such a consummate professional. We didn't have enough of the girls,
but Liv was wonderful. And the lovely Cate. Viggo is such an all-round gifted
man. Viggo could earn his living as a photographer. He could earn his keep as a
painter. Viggo's poetry is very strong, he is such a charming and yet forceful
and dynamic man. And I have the deepest admiration for Sir Ian McKellen. By God,
he's my friend and I love him. And we must start campaining to knight
Christopher Lee. Christopher is a real war hero. I cannot praise Christopher too
highly.
What would you say to the
six people who didn't enjoy the trilogy ?
I believe in absolute freedom of the press, but I also believe that you should
be allowed to take a horsewhip to somebody of he upsets you. A perfectly
reasonable solution.
What was the toughest thing
you had to do ?
I spent a huge amount of time thinking and worrying about Treebeard and I still
do. I lost sleep over it. I didn't lose any sleep over Gimli. But I don't think
Treebeard's as wonderful a character as I hoped he would be. Sometimes you dream
about a character and he seems so much better. We have avoided failure, and a
lot of people say it's one of their favourite characters, but, for me, the jury
is still out.
How does it feel to say
goodbye ?
Glum. I will miss it terribly. Doubtless, before I'm dead, I'll hear a terribly
unimaginative film studio say they're going to remake The Lord Of The Rings.