More than 20 years have passed and there has still not been any film saga that has left as deep a mark as The Lord of the Rings. The trilogy directed by Peter Jackson marked a before and after for an entire generation, and few franchises have managed to match its success at the box office. However, it seems that there was someone within the cast who was not entirely sure of this triumph.
In an interview with journalist Michael Rosenbaum, John Rhys-Davies, the actor who played the intrepid Gimli, revealed that he initially believed this film was going to be a failure. His experience as an actor in large productions led him to think that this saga was not going to come to fruition.nes made him think that this saga was not going to come to fruition.
“I went with duplicity in my heart, to be honest with you, when I found out they were making The Lord of the Rings. I said, 'oh yeah, good luck.' And who's doing it? Peter Jackson, he's made a or two wonderful little movies. But let's face it, if you have a four- and six-week cast, anyone can direct a movie, and sadly they do. But do you have any idea what you're really getting into?”
“I found out they were making it, and they asked me to do something on the tape. And I thought, Lord of the Rings, this is going to be a complete disaster, whatever it is. I thought, never mind, I haven't been in New Zealand, go there, participate for a month, look around and leave. Because this is never going to happen. You have no idea what happens when you make a great movie, and you know I've made some great ones…”
“When they came back and told me they wanted me to be Gimli, I thought 'what the hell?'. I've spent 30 years trying to be recognized, what the hell? Why would I want to put on a prosthetic like that and why would I want to spend five or six hours a day in makeup?”
“What's more, who wants to spend three years in New Zealand, on a movie where the first part actually comes out, fails, and the other two go straight to video or something?”
Fortunately, Rhys-Davies was completely wrong. When the film was finally released, the first installment of the saga turned out to be a massive success, causing a huge wave of fans to fill theaters for three consecutive years to enjoy the journey of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf and the whole community.
The Lord of the rings will return to the big screen this year with a new film: The War of the Rohirrim. This film will be animated and will tell the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan who must defend himself against an army of wild men from the land of Dunland.
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