You probably remember him huffing and puffing across Middle-earth, swinging an axe at Uruk-hai knees and demanding nobody toss him. As Gimli, John Rhys-Davies became the definitive face of fantasy dwarves. But if you ever stood next to him at a fan convention, you’d likely find yourself looking up. Way up.
It’s one of those Hollywood facts that feels like a glitch in the Matrix.
Honestly, the john rhys davies height situation is a masterclass in cinematic deception. While he spent three movies playing a character barely reaching four feet, the man himself is a literal giant compared to his co-stars. It’s not just that he isn't short; he was actually the tallest member of the principal Fellowship cast.
The Numbers Most People Get Wrong
Let’s get the raw data out of the way. John Rhys-Davies stands at a solid 6 feet 1 inch (about 185 cm).
That’s a big dude. For context, he towers over Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), who is roughly 5'11", and Orlando Bloom (Legolas), who sits around 5'10". Even Ian McKellen, who played the "tall" wizard Gandalf, is about 5'11".
So, why on earth would Peter Jackson cast the biggest guy in the room to play the shortest warrior?
It sounds like a logistical nightmare. You’d think they would want a shorter actor to save money on digital effects or forced perspective. But it turns out, Rhys-Davies being 6'1" was actually a massive shortcut for the production team.
💡 You might also like: Danny DeVito Wife Height: What Most People Get Wrong
The "Two-Scale" Logic
When you’re filming a movie with humans, elves, dwarves, and hobbits, you usually need three different "height scales."
- The Human/Elf scale (Tall)
- The Dwarf scale (Middle)
- The Hobbit scale (Short)
If they had cast a 4-foot-tall actor as Gimli, they would have had to do a separate camera pass for him in every single group shot. But because the john rhys davies height put him at over six feet, he was naturally in the exact right proportion to the actors playing the Hobbits.
Think about it: Elijah Wood and the other Hobbit actors are around 5'6" to 5'10". In the world of Tolkien, a dwarf is supposed to be slightly taller and broader than a hobbit. By putting a 6'1" man next to a 5'6" man, you get that exact ratio without any trickery. They could film John and the Hobbits in the same frame, on the same set, and it just worked.
Beyond Middle-earth: Sallah and Sliders
The height of John Rhys-Davies has been a "thing" long before he went to New Zealand. Back in 1981, when Steven Spielberg was casting Raiders of the Lost Ark, the character of Sallah was written as a "five-foot-two, skinny Egyptian."
Spielberg originally wanted Danny DeVito.
When DeVito couldn't do it, Rhys-Davies walked in. He was a 6'1" Welshman with a booming voice and a frame that filled the door. Instead of shrinking the character, Spielberg just changed the vision. Sallah became a big, boisterous, "Falstaffian" presence. It’s hard to imagine those movies now without his massive, protective energy standing next to Harrison Ford.
📖 Related: Mara Wilson and Ben Shapiro: The Family Feud Most People Get Wrong
Then you’ve got Sliders. If you’re a 90s sci-fi nerd, you remember Professor Arturo. In that show, he often shared the screen with Jerry O'Connell. Jerry is a tall guy—about 6'2"—so for once, John actually looked like a normal-sized human being. It's funny how much our perception of an actor's "size" depends entirely on who is standing three feet to their left.
The Physical Toll of Being a Tall Dwarf
Being 6'1" while playing a dwarf wasn't all just "standing next to hobbits" and calling it a day. It was actually kind of a nightmare for him physically.
Because he was so much larger than the character he was portraying, the prosthetic requirements were intense. He had to wear heavy, thick facial appliances to broaden his face so he didn't look like a "tall guy in a beard."
- The Makeup: It took roughly five hours a day to apply.
- The Allergy: He was actually allergic to the prosthetic glue. It would literally burn the skin under his eyes.
- The Stunts: Because of his height, he couldn't do many of the wide-angle "running" shots.
For those long-distance shots where you see the Fellowship running across the mountains, that’s not John. That’s Brett Beattie, his scale double. Brett is about 4'10" and did a massive amount of the heavy lifting. In fact, Brett Beattie spent so much time in the Gimli suit that he actually got the Fellowship "nine" tattoo with the rest of the lead actors, while John Rhys-Davies famously sent his stunt double in his place.
Why We Care About Actor Heights
It’s a bit of a weird obsession, right? We Google "john rhys davies height" because we want to see behind the curtain. There’s a certain magic in knowing that the guy who looked like he could fit in a barrel was actually the biggest guy on set.
It speaks to the craft of acting. Rhys-Davies doesn't just "act" short; he carries himself with a weight and a center of gravity that makes you believe in the physics of a dwarf. He uses that 6'1" frame to project power rather than length.
👉 See also: How Tall is Tim Curry? What Fans Often Get Wrong About the Legend's Height
Actionable Takeaway for Film Buffs
Next time you watch The Fellowship of the Ring, pay close attention to the scenes where Gimli is standing only with the Hobbits (like the Moria sequences). You’ll notice the camera doesn't use any weird tricks. That’s just the natural john rhys davies height creating the perfect Middle-earth hierarchy.
If you're interested in the technical side, look up "forced perspective." It's the old-school trick Peter Jackson used where one actor stands far away and another stands close to the lens to fake a height difference. But remember: for Gimli and the Hobbits, they didn't even need it.
Summary of Reality vs. Screen
- Real Life: John is 6'1" (185 cm).
- On Screen: Gimli is roughly 4'2" (127 cm).
- The Trick: Using his real height to stay "in scale" with shorter co-stars acting as Hobbits.
- The Result: One of the most believable fantasy characters ever put to film.
Honestly, the fact that he pulled it off for three massive movies while being allergic to his own face is probably the most "dwarf" thing anyone has ever done.
To see more about how they pulled this off, you can check out the behind-the-scenes documentaries on the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, which go into painstaking detail about "Scale Doubles" and "Large Scale Sets." They actually built two of every prop—one small, one huge—to make the math work.
Next Steps:
If you want to see John Rhys-Davies at his full natural height without the beard, check out his work in Shogun (1980) or the original Indiana Jones trilogy. You'll see a completely different physical performance that utilizes his actual stature.