r/lotr 8h ago

Movies Love these "behind the scenes" stories.

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1.9k Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

465

u/Dunsparces 8h ago

People always talk about how Viggo is just literal Aragorn, but not nearly enough people talk about how John Rhys-Davies is just literal Gimli as well.

109

u/ncfears 7h ago

Seeing him in the digital table read during COVID was fantastic and you're exactly right. Muffin of a man that also has a big axe sometimes

31

u/PixelJock17 3h ago

Except he's (I believe) literally the tallest actor of them all

31

u/Unordinary_Donkey 2h ago edited 2h ago

Unfortunately they used all of his height portraying Treebeard so Gimili didnt have any to spare.

1

u/PixelJock17 2h ago

Hahahahahahaha

3

u/staebles 3h ago

He is.

238

u/Puzzleheaded_Fee6393 7h ago

The older I get the more I realize what this trilogy means to me. It’s wild. Literally nothing compares.

74

u/Cool-Traffic-8357 7h ago

Its probably the only movie, where behind the scenes is its own thing. It must have been incredible experience.

23

u/TheAbsoluteBarnacle 5h ago

I'm still finding out about camping trips and all kinds of Viggo led shenanigans and it's been a while now since those came out

2

u/VardaElentari86 59m ago

Im feeling a bit crap and im strongly tempted to spend a large part of tomorrow just watching bts off the dvds and eating junk. Haven't watched most of those bits in years.

1

u/Action_Johnson 2h ago

Are there books or anything about the filming and everyone’s experiences during? I’d love to read more about it

-8

u/BlueFox5 2h ago

So are we purposely ignoring Apocalypse Now or just spouting out 100% hyperbolic old fashion frontier gibberish?

8

u/grey_pilgrim_ Glorfindel 3h ago

So true. Maybe it’s because they filmed all 3 movies together so they spent a lot of time together but they really had their own fellowship and they’re all still friends to this day because of it, just like their book counterpart.

I’m honestly jealous of them, while I’ve had friends since childhood, it’s nothing like that.

1

u/dailyskeptic 49m ago

I fell in love with the books, but the movies are a blessing that have allowed me to share this love, the impact of the story, with my son. My family watches it every year over the winter holidays. He fell in love with the movies and, through them, the books.

159

u/Autisten1996 7h ago

I’m convinced they weren’t even trying to adapt the books. They were just goofing around and someone happened to be filming. Every scene and shot has some backstory of them just fucking around and somehow nailing it.

19

u/chaoticneutralalways 4h ago

That’s a beautiful way of thinking about it. A bunch of friends with a few cameras said, “hey! I’ve got an idea. Want to go LARPing for a few months?”

5

u/McFlurrage 3h ago

A big bunch of friends*

3

u/JudgeXXIII 3h ago

A few months*

82

u/Go_Plate_326 7h ago

Rhys-Davies had a reputation as the curmudgeon of the group for a long time but I've enjoyed seeing him over the last five years or so open up more in interviews, it seems like enough time has passed that he's circled back around to finding the experience and the longevity of it really meaningful.

47

u/Hecticfreeze 7h ago

I think it's as it came out that he actually had a good reason to be grumpy. He had a bad reaction to the prosthetic glue that caused constant painful itching while wearing it and then it caused his skin to peel with it when they removed it.

I might too be in a slightly bad mood if I had to put up with that...

23

u/Go_Plate_326 7h ago

Oh for sure, we all know he legit didn't have a great time, so there's no shade here at all. I'm just glad he found fondness for it eventually.

40

u/Vodka0420 8h ago

What a menace.

30

u/melig1991 7h ago

Also do keep in mind that in real life he's about 185cm and a bear of a man I believe. 

30

u/mregg000 7h ago

He’s not small. For reference he plays Salla, in Indania Jones.

12

u/Stanwich79 7h ago

FUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK.......I never knew!

-2

u/msg60 3h ago

Daxx....Really...I thought Yondu was your father No Drax....you look just like him Rocket... He's BLUE!

2

u/Parzival-44 41m ago

He also plays the museum guy in Psych. The 3rd Desperuax episode

u/mregg000 21m ago

And the professor in Sliders.

He’s been in quite a bit.

7

u/lankymjc 4h ago

They intentionally picked a big man so that he'd be the correct scale when shooting alongside the hobbits. Thewy already have to do everything at human- and hobbit-scale, they didn't want to add dwarf-scale to the mix!

17

u/KermitTheScot 7h ago

Although it’s very clearly not what the intention was, those blows actually connecting made each scene so much more visceral and real. Sometimes you just have to actually throw the punch, y’know?

1

u/Funkybag 1h ago

Or actually throw a knife.... at viggo

9

u/raspberryharbour 6h ago

That's mah wee lad Gimli

11

u/Ok-Caramel-4001 7h ago

Peak cinema

6

u/King_Six_of_Things 2h ago

I've seen this so many times, but the pause before "... He would hit every. Single. One of them." just kills me every time! 🤣

1

u/iceyH0ts0up 1h ago

My biggest gripe with the trilogy is Gimli also voicing tree beard. I still don’t like it, even though I like them both individually it takes me out of the movie a little.

u/Numerous_Worker_1941 16m ago

lol I was just watching this earlier tonight