John Rhys-Davies Reveals Whether He Will Return To Middle-earth As Gimli In Future 'The Lord Of The Rings' Films

Actor John Rhys-Davies recently revealed whether he would return to the world of Middle-earth as Gimli in future The Lord of the Rings films.

Last May, Rhys-Davies expressed his interest returning to the character of Gimli albeit if the time spent putting on the character’s makeup and prosthetics was reduced.

He told Collider, “Well, I’m known to not want to put that prosthetic on again, but out of deference to Andy, whom I love and admire and again who has grown so much, if they invited me…oh god could I dare to put on that make-up again and lose my skin? Maybe with CGI.”

“Before when they asked me to do ‘The Hobbit’, for instance, I said no. No, not at all,” he continued. “Times have moved on and technology has moved on, if I don’t have to spend eight hours a day for three years of my life in a make-up chair, I might indeed do it. The other thing is physically I am no longer capable of putting eighty pounds of extra armor and stuff on and climbing up mountains.”

In an interview with Empire back in 2009, Rhys-Davies explained why he turned down The Hobbit movies, “There's a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. Really I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more."

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In April at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C., Rhys-Davies reiterated his previous comments and said, “[I'd do] anything as long as I don't have to put that full prosthetic on again.”

However, during an appearance at Fan Expo Philadelphia this month, he seems to have dropped his condition about putting on the prosthetics saying, “If I’m asked to serve, I will consider it and probably say yes.”

Rhys-Davies is not the only one to express interest in returning to Middle-earth. Ian McKellen made it clear he was interested in returning as well for the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum film.

He told This Morning back in September 2024, “Well, all I know is that they called me up and said that these films were going to happen, mainly be about Gollum, Andy Serkis, who played Gollum, is going to direct, and there would be a script arriving some time in the new year. That’s next year. And then I’ll judge whether I want to go back.”

He continued, “But I would. I would love to go back to New Zealand, number one. And I also don’t like the idea of anybody else playing Gandalf.”

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Peter Jackson, who directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and is an executive producer on The Hunt for Gollum film explained why this story was chosen, “The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic.”

“I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien,” Jackson explained.

Phillipa Boyens, who is scripting the film, also shared, “Gollum’s story is one of the most compelling to us in terms of a character that we couldn’t go as deeply into as we wanted to before, which sounds strange when you say that, given how familiar he is to everybody.”

“Gollum’s life span takes place in such an interesting period of Middle-earth. When the question was first asked, this was the first story we thought of,” she elaborated. “Because I can tell you, and people might not believe this, but we had zero expectations of going back to this. It wasn’t something we were looking to do, particularly. So when the question was asked, it was, what would draw you back? And it was about working with the people we we’re working with. It was also about the chance to work with Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at the studio. Alan Horn is now back at the studio. It just felt right.”

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As far as who might show up in the film, director Andy Serkis said, “That’s a difficult question to answer right at this moment in time, because we’re really in the nascent stages of what it is exactly where we’re doing, and where the story’s going to take us.”

“So I don’t want to commit anything right now. I mean, because it’s so raw and so raw and wriggling, and we are just literally having very early state script discussions and ideas of exactly where and how we’re going to drop anchor with the character and his journey and how he is or comes into contact with other characters, and the characters that we know and don’t know. So still, I would hate to say anything that’s going to commit us at this point, because it’s literally all up for grabs,” he concluded.

What do you make of Rhys-Davies comments?

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