10 Hilariously Obvious Stand-Ins Who Ruined Their Scenes

Peter Jackson’s trilogy of Tolkien adaptations is one of the most impressive cinematic spectacles of this century, an immersive experience which never sacrifices character or narrative momentum to showcase its ground-breaking FX and staggeringly detailed production design.

Er… That’s the director’s first Tolkien trilogy we’re referring to, in case you hadn’t guessed already. The trio of films adapted from the Lord of the Rings series brought together an incredible ensemble cast as diverse as Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, and Ian McKellen, and even relative newcomers held their own against fantasy film stalwarts in a flick without a weak link in its massive set of players.

Of course, managing to convince was easier for some actors than others, given how often their stand-ins were able to save them the effort of appearing onscreen. In the case of John Rhys Davies’ Gimli, the actor actually managed to spend less time shooting with the cast than his stand-in did.

Unfortunately, that’s not a hard fact to guess when re-watching the films. Gimli earned his place on this list because of the many times his replacement can be spotted throughout the epic trilogy. However, there is at least a fair reason for Davies’ frequent absence—at six feet tall, the actual actor is nowhere near as short as the height required by his signature role.