10 Amazing Behind The Scenes Stories From The Lord Of The Rings

When you have orcs, goblins, dwarves and hobbits running around on set, you're going to need to way to make them look convincing. With the wonder of modern makeup techniques, Weta Workshop designed, made, and applied thousands of prosthetics onto actors and extras across the production period. The four hobbits got through 1800 pairs of feet alone throughout the shoot...

But no other cast member went through as much hardship, when it came to make-up, as John Rhys-Davies. To convincingly turn Rhys-Davies into Gimili, required a four-hour process of painstakingly applying his dwarven chin, forehead, nose, and cheeks - not to mention that great big bushy beard.

Although four hours sat in a chair, while make-up artists pamper you, doesn't sound all that bad, the reaction Rhys-Davis had to the prosthetics caused all the skin around his eyes to peel off, puff up, and start weeping. But the dwarves are hardy folk, Rhys-Davies would repeat the process daily, without fail. Unsurprisingly, he swore never to play a dwarf ever again.