Trivia
- John was the subject of an elaborate Internet prank in 2004 that spread rumors that he had been selected to play General Grievous in Star Wars: Episode III.
- John received criticism in 2004 when he compared The Lord of the Rings to the situations in Western Europe. He drew attention to the way Europe's culture was being diminished by Islam.
- John provided the voice for the narrator in Sierra's Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness.
- In 2003, John & co. were nominated for the DVDX Award for Best Audio Commentary (New for DVD) for: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).
- In 2004, John & co. won the BFCA Award for Best Acting Ensemble
for: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
- John lost the third knuckle of his left hand middle finger in an accident several years ago.
- In March 2004, John attended The Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Film Convention in Gõteborg, Sweden.
- John graduated from the University of East Anglia.
- John's son urged him to accept the role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- John is happily married to wife Deborah, and they have one child together.
- While playing the role of Gimli in Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was discovered that John Rhys-Davies was allergic to the prosthetics. During the first week, it burned off the skin under his eyes. After that he only put the prosthetics on every third day.
- John did additional voice acting for the animated series Pirates of the Darkwater in season 2.
- John did the voice for "Jherek" in Forgotten Realms: Baldur's Gate - Dark Alliance on the PS2.
- John did the voice for "Lord Huigar" in the Lords of Everquest video game.
- John did not get along with the new Sliders (1995) executive producer David Peckinpah, who came in on the third season of the show - which resulted in his character getting a brain tumor, then shot, then finally blown up.
- John is an Associate Member of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), London, England, UK.
- Ironically, John is actually taller than Lord of the Rings trilogy co-stars Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Ian McKellen. Yet he plays the Dwarf.
- John spent up to 5 hours a day putting on makeup for the role of "Gimli" from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- John divides his time between Los Angeles, CA and the Isle of Man.
- John is an avid collector of vintage automobiles, and has an extensive collection.
Quotes
- John Rhys-Davies: I'm burying my career so substantially in these interviews that it's painful. But I think that there are some questions that demand honest answers. I think that Tolkien says that some generations will be challenged. And if they do not rise to meet that challenge, they will lose their civilization ... There is a demographic catastrophe happening in Europe that nobody wants to talk about ... By 2020, fifty percent of the children in Holland under the age of 18 will be of Muslim descent.
- John Rhys-Davies: (on attempting to heckle Margaret Thatcher) She shot down the first two hecklers in such brilliant fashion that I decided I ought for once to shut up and listen.
- John Rhys-Davies: I'd love to spend more time on the Isle of Man. I love the anonymity of putting on a boiler suit and going down to buy parts for the compressor. And Norman Wisdom's a neighbor; I salute him occasionally.
- John Rhys-Davies: (On a 4th Indiana Jones) Every three or four years the rumours start again, but any new script has got to be approved by Steven, and by George, and by Harrison. Everyone would like to do one, but the script has got to be better than the other three. Every year Paramount must send boxes of goodies to all three, saying 'please please please make us another one.....'
- John Rhys-Davies: (on shooting Fellowship of The Ring) One of my abiding memories is being halfway up a mountain and watching two men carrying a basket with my clothes up to me, and another two carrying my armour and axe, then a woman carrying my helmut up, and finally another with my big, heavy boots to give that dwarfish trouser-look. Then they put it all on me and the director said 'now run up that hill.'
- John Rhys-Davies: (On why he left Sliders (1995)) I like SF. I love intelligent SF. We had the most wonderful series concept with Sliders, but we did everything that had been done before and we did it every damned episode. We did Species. We did Tremors. We did Twister. We did War of the Worlds. We did The Island of Dr. Moreau. It was out of control, just out of control. In the end, Sliders wasn't the worst experience I ever had. I was just disappointed. Again, I love SF. I'm a passionate believer in Sliders. The series could have been great. The public always understood that of Sliders. The public understood that you could go anywhere in the galaxy. The writers, though, would try to graft a Law and Order story, or something they had done or seen before, onto Sliders and just make the characters work around it.
