Ammanford-raised John Rhys-Davies will be returning in the latest instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise.
Rhys-Davies was confirmed as the first footage of the untitled fifth Indiana Jones film was shown during LucasFilm’s studio showcase at the D23 Expo 2022.
During the trailer, the cult following of the franchise spotted their beloved fan favourite character, Sallah, played by Ammanford’s BAFTA-winning actor.
Sallah is known as “the best digger in Egypt” who helps Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones find the ark of the covenant in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, before assisting in the discovery of the Holy Grail in the 1989 sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Following the last two appearances as Sallah, this will be the third time John Rhys-Davies has put on his famous fez to aid the world’s most famous archaeologist.
Rhys-Davies is well known around Ammanford, having spent much of his growing up there after moving from modern-day Tanzania.
He was born in Salisbury to Carmarthenshire parents, and moved around as a child due to his father’s role as a colonial officer.
Through his childhood though, he still spent many months of the year with his Ammanford grandmother.
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The untitled fifth Indiana Jones film is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2023, being the first film of the franchise not directed by Steven Spielberg, who acts a producer as James Mangold sits in the main chair.
As well as Ford in the title role and Rhys-Davies as Sallah, other cast members confirmed are Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Toby Jones and Antonio Banderas.
Away from his work on Indiana Jones, Rhys-Davies is also known worldwide for his movie work as Gimli in the Lord of the Rings franchise.
He has also appeared in the James Bond film The Living Daylights and the Aladdin, Scooby Doo and Princess Diaries franchises.
For this, and his other 150+ film and TV productions, he was awarded a BFTA Cymru Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television in 2017.
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