The Big Picture

Collider’s Aidan Kelley speaks with John Rhys-Davies for his podcast
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol
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The 2023 podcast remains true to the heart of Dickens’ timeless story.
During this interview, Rhys-Davies praises Sean Astin’s character versatility and discusses returning to popular franchises like Lord of the Rings and The Princess Diaries.

A Christmas Carol is set to have new life breathed into it once again with Scrooge: A Christmas Carol — the critically acclaimed podcast rendition of Charles Dickens’ prolific tale. Since being published in the 1800s, A Christmas Carol has persevered as a timeless all-time classic, with the likes of even Mickey Mouse and The Muppets playing the cast of Dickens’ beloved story at one point or another. Not only has the podcast already garnered wide and deserved acclaim, with nearly 500,000 listeners since its debut in 2023, but it also boasts a stellar ensemble cast. A cast that includes the likes of The Goonies star Sean Astin, Hot Fuzz star Lucy Punch, and The Chronicles of Narnia star Ben Barnes.

Also a part of that cast of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol as the podcast’s narrator is Emmy nominee and voice acting legend John Rhys-Davies, whose prestigious resume of iconic roles includes Sallah from the Indiana Jones films as well as Gimli and Treebeard from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We here at Collider recently had the opportunity to speak with John about the Christmas-themed podcast and what it was like to work with his Lord of the Rings co-star, Sean Astin, again. Not only that, John Rhys-Davies also shared his thoughts on reprising some of his most well-known roles for future installments, including the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hunt for Gollum and the long-awaited The Princess Diaries 3.

John Rhys-Davies Promises ‘Scrooge: A Christmas Carol’ Will Be a Faithful Charles Dickens Adaptation
“They’ve kept the truth and the heart of the story…”

COLLIDER: So you are part of the stellar ensemble cast of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, the latest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic novel. Since the story has been adapted so many times over the years, what would you say makes this specific version special?

JOHN RHYS-DAVIES: It starts obviously with the word, and all good stories start with a good storyteller, and Dickens was certainly that. He wrote at a time in his life that was particularly difficult. He was going through a really bad patch. And he was in that temporal point in a writer’s life where he was drying up. You know, he didn’t know what the next story was going to be, and he found this, and in telling it, he rediscovered himself. So that’s the Dickens bit of it. To answer your question, the people who did this know the story, love the story, and their recension is true to the spirit of it. They weren’t trying to tell you a different story. It was not the sort of remake of the great story where in fact ‘Scrooge actually allows everyone to die, and you know what, he doesn’t care. It is a story about Wall Street essentially. Greed is good!”. Everyone who tries to adapt the story tries to find their own angle in it, and that is not the story that Dickens wrote or the story that Dickens intended. They’ve kept the truth and the heart of the story, and if you do that, you’re really onto a winner.

I think that’s a perfect description of what the story is, and it sounds like it’s going to be a very faithful adaptation.

John Rhys-Davies Has High Praise for Sean Astin
“My respect and admiration for him as a person just grows every time I meet him.”
Image via New Line Cinema

We talked about Scrooge a little bit, who, of course, is the titular character, and the person playing Scrooge in this story is one of your cast members from The Lord of the Rings, Sean Astin. Not only would I love to hear what it was like to be able to work with Sean again, but I’m also wondering if it was interesting to see Sean play a character who, at least at the start of this story, is the complete polar opposite of the lovably selfless character that he plays in Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee.

RHYS-DAVIES: I have had the privilege of knowing and working with Sean now since 1999. I think in September 1999, I first met him. My respect and admiration for him as a person just grows every time I meet him. Maybe I’ll get into politics. He’s now a very senior member of the Screen Actors Guild. He’s really gotten into the mechanics of organizing people, of knowing how to get the best out of people, of the difficulties of organizations that are clumsy and sometimes antiquated, and getting locked into old habits. He’s got a degree, I think, in business management or something like that. He is fast becoming the man who knows how to get problems solved. I will lay money that in your lifetime, you’ll see him as a congressman, a senator, and you never know. One of the heads of our Screen Actors Guild was a chap called Ronnie Reagan, and my bet is that if he continues to grow and change and mature the way he is, there’s a big future for him and, I think, a good future for American politics as well.

That’s about as stellar an endorsement you can get for Sean Astin.

RHYS-DAVIES: Apart from that, I hate him, haha! He’s wonderful. He’s wonderful in this.

John-Rhys-Davies Would Return for Another ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie (on One Condition)
“…if I don’t have to spend eight hours a day for three years of my life in a make-up chair, I might indeed do it.”

The ‘Lord of the Rings’ franchise has had an amazing revitalization in recent years. There’s the Amazon show, the animated movie releasing later this [year], and now we know Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis are working on a brand-new live-action film with The Hunt for Gollum. Some of your co-stars, like Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, and perhaps your most prevalent on-screen partner, Orlando Bloom, have all expressed interest in returning. Would you maybe consider getting the ax again to return for another quest to Middle-earth anytime soon?

RHYS-DAVIES: Well, I’m known to not want to put that prosthetic on again, but out of deference to Andy, whom I love and admire and, again, who has grown so much, if they invited me…oh god, could I dare to put on that make-up again and lose my skin? Maybe with CGI. Before, when they asked me to do The Hobbit, for instance, I said no. No, not at all. Times have moved on, and technology has moved on. If I don’t have to spend eight hours a day for three years of my life in a make-up chair, I might indeed do it. The other thing is, physically, I am no longer capable of putting eighty pounds of extra armor and stuff on and climbing up mountains.

John Rhys-Davies Doesn’t View His ‘Princess Diaries’ Character as a “Villain”
“A protector of traditional standards!”
Image via Disney

I think I have time for one last question here, and it’s a question that a very close friend of mine has been begging me to ask you. You starred in 2004’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement as the villainous Viscount Mabery. We know a third Princess Diaries movie is on the way-

RHYS-DAVIES: I wouldn’t say a villain. A protector of traditional standards! That wretched American woman stole the crown by seducing my very handsome young [nephew]! You can see the likeness, no doubt?

[Played by] Chris Pine, who also said he’d be willing to come back. Do you think there’s an opportunity to return for the third film?

RHYS-DAVIES: Of course I would. I think I should be prime minister. I was going to be prime minister, I should have been prime minister. But yes, by the way, I introduced my then sixteen-year-old daughter to Chris Pine. Oh, dear me. The virtues of Chris Pine are still ringing in my ears. But actually, I love the man, he’s wonderful. And he likes Dickens!

You can hear John Rhys-Davies’ legendary voice when all four episodes of Scrooge: A Christmas Carol become available to listen to on Friday, November 22nd, 2024, wherever you listen to your podcasts. Episodes can also be found at Scroogepodcast.com:

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