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Rhys-Davies 'won't return for 'Hobbit'

Published Friday, Oct 30 2009, 14:44 GMT | By Simon Reynolds
Rhys-Davies 'won't return for 'Hobbit'

Rex Features

John Rhys-Davies has ruled out appearing in The Hobbit films.

Rhys-Davies, who portrayed dwarf Gimli in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, told Empire, that he has no desire to come back and play Gimli's father Gloin, who appears in author JRR Tolkien's novel on which the new films are based.

"I've already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn't," the British actor said. "I have already completely ruled it out. 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."

Rhys-Davies admitted that even the prospect of a small cameo wouldn't tempt him back to the fantasy series: "Why would you want to do it if it was just a couple of shots? When you've been 1 of 1, why would you want to be 1 of 13?"

The 65-year-old noted that The Hobbit presented filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson with "a different set of problems" from the previous franchise entries.

"You've got 13 dwarves, a whole band of them," he explained. "You're trying to represent a whole race... You're trying to do for dwarves what The Lord Of The Rings did for hobbits."

Gandalf actor Sir Ian McKellen recently said that he expects the two Hobbit films to be shooting for more than a year.

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