Interviewing John Rhys-Davies is like trying to alter the flow of a mighty torrent with a teacup.

Feeding naan bread to Hobbits.

The parliamentarypetitionhes keen to get signatures for.

What was behind his rage as the permanently incandescent Gimli.

Breaking his back on set.

What he andShannaracreator Terry Brooks talk about when they get together.

The consolations of science and the disappointments of science-fiction.

Hes an erudite, experienced performer with a terrifically thespy voice and a bark of a laugh.

Hes also not averse to swapping his natural Welsh accent for a bit of fan-pleasing Dwarvish…

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So, King of the Pointy-Ears!

Whatever would Gimli say?

Dont forget your Dwarvish nature!

Hes very different, Eventine.

Unfortunately, his chosen heirhis first-born sonhas been murdered and the choices that remain are poor.

And his second sons a drunk and a wastrel.

Eventine recognises his younger self in his granddaughter.

Is it important to you to play admirable characters?

Youve said that your aim with the Professor Arturo onSliderswas to glorify intellectual pursuit.

Which explains that copy of New Scientist sat on the table in front of you.

Science led to destruction inThe Shannara Chronicles, its been replaced by magic.

What do you make of the collision between those two elements?

I count myself a rationalist and a scepticand yet Im pilloried for having voiced a documentary on Creationism.

You dont espouse the views of the roles you take, youre saying?

There are between one hundred and four hundred billion galaxies in our universe.

Once you get into big numbers like that, not only is anything possible, actually, its probable!

I can see now why you had difficulty onSliders!

It is immensely dense.

End of it all.

Its not just a question of fiction getting the scientific detail right, is it?

That doesnt always serve the storytelling.

Did you have any reservations about re-entering the world of high fantasy withThe Shannara Chronicles?

I like getting up in the morning thinking yippee, Im going to work!

With a bit of luck, itll continue to do so for a while.

People tend to be less snobby about the fantasy genre now… No doubt thanks to your friend Peter Jackson.

And fantasy has served you well in this stage of your career.

I think so, yes.

I likeideas.I like alternative ways of looking at how we could live, or should live.

The great disappointments for me of science-fiction is the extraordinary predictability.

The us and them-ness is so elementary and such a denial of the real complexity of life.

Cold War sci-fi had the Russian or Communist threat as its masked villain, a political Other.

Thats different now, you feel?

Its Cops and Robbers, its Cowboys and Indians, dressed up with some other garbage around it.

It really bores me and annoys me.

We get on rather well actually!

Were probably the older two of the team, so we often sit together.

Hes bright and hes sharp and hes creative.

What do you talk about together?

Actually sometimes we talk about science.

The technical art of writing and what it is were trying to do.

I am astar.I am more important than you people!

Its always a twelve hour day, its frequently a thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen hour day.

If youre lucky its a five day week, but its generally a six-day week.

I shall be cold, I shall be wet and…

I shall be sodelightedby doing it!

[claps his hands, laughs].

Lord Of The Ringsended up being something I did after everyone else went home, basically.

Part of the joy of film-making, of theatre, is your fellow actors.

It was actually the loneliest job Ive ever done.

I think Sir Ian McKellen said the same thing about his role.

Yes, because the technology had so advanced!

But he was working very much on his own, and thats tough.

The skin around your eyes is about the thickness of two cigarette papers, and it just abraded.

So then the face becomes puffed with fluid, as it tries to repair.

Ive just got to go back to L.A. until youve finished this.

And she was right to do it, Ididlook hideous.

I felt disgusted with my appearance and its very hard to work under those circumstances.

But I think theres a bit of real human rage that comes through old Gimli sometimes!

Are you on a horse at any point inThe Shannara Chronicles?

I have a nine and a half year old daughter who is horse-mad.

I want my money back!

Do you have any overriding memories of filming that one?

[Claps and laughs].

No, I stayed on for goodness sake.

We played games with each other.

Its part of the fun.

Youve been seriously injured on a film set before though?

Piece of crap for Disney calledLa Femme Muskateer.

Broke my back in five places, broke my arm…

It was a tough one, that one.

I was just at the point of passing out when they managed to lift it off me.

I think my knees, my arms, everything,everythinghurt.

Later that afternoon, the elf and a hobbit got into a canoe and it tipped over again!

There was only two capsizes and the common factor was NOT THE DWARF!

Its pretty good, and all done with great fondness and respect, obviously.

Right, so this is what well have!

Well have twelve naans, well have ten Peshwari naans, well have four of the lamb bhuna…

The one thing about Hobbits is theyre endlessly, perpetually hungry.

Yes, there wasnt enough to do.

I think the character is worth more than that.

Hes a great character.

What it is is a general failure of the creative imagination.

The desire to make a remake of something that was successful is a cheap way of going about things.

Its almost borrowed valour, in its own way.

I hate it, but my jobs to survive.

John Rhys-Davies, thank you very much!

The Shannara Chronicles starts in the UK on Thursday the 25thof February, at 9pm on 5STAR.