John Rhys-Davies suffered a lot on the set of the first Indiana Jones film – like pretty much the entire crew. Image source: Paramount Pictures
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Are you currently eating the chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs you collected over the weekend? If so, put it aside before reading any further.
Because it's about Raiders of the Lost Ark. The first film about the legendary treasure hunter Indiana Jones is not the unsavory thing, on the contrary: to this day, Indy's cinematic debut is considered one of the best films of all time with a tremendous impact on pop culture.
Someone who was there from the beginning: John Rhys-Davies. The actor playing the character Sallah now remembers in a podcast, how bad the infamous on-set food poisoning really was.
Improvisation leads to legendary scenes
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To catch up with anyone who has never heard of the famous story, a large portion of the filming of the first Indiana Jones film took place in Tunisia. Almost the entire crew contracted nasty food poisoning there, including lead actor Harrison Ford and other parts of the cast.
In conversation with Michael Rosenbaum from Podcast Inside of You John Rhys-Davies confirms that these terrible circumstances did in fact give rise to the legendary scene with Indiana Jones and the native waving a sword.
Instead of fighting with him, Indy shoots him without further ado – because Harrison Ford simply had to run to the toilet too often and therefore improvised without further ado:
Link to YouTube content
“I knew there was no hope”
What gave us a legendary scene was a real torture for those involved on site.
John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings, James Bond 007 – The Breath of Death) reveals juicy details in the podcast linked above. Last warning at this point, don't say we didn't warn you several times!
I lost 22 pounds. There was a scene where I was supposed to be shot by a German chef, and […] Steve [Spielberg] said: John, can you bend over so he can see me better?
And when I did that, I filled my djellaba in front of 200 people and I didn't care…
Even after this unsavory moment, Rhys-Davies was far from feeling well, on the contrary: when he was lying in bed in his hotel room a short time later, things got even worse:
My next memory is lying in that hotel bed. […] I'm lying in this bed with ants in it that I've vomited and excreted in. I have a temperature of around 40 degrees. I'm dying. I'll probably die of dysentery or diphtheria.
Even a doctor can't help the suffering John Rhys-Davies. Why not? So…
I hear the door close and the little flame of life within me begins to burn: in comes our wonderful Australian doctor. But she cringes and says: Oh God, John, I see you have it too. Can I use your toilet?
At that moment God died. I knew there was no hope… I just wanted to die.
Okay, all the die-hards who have stuck it out this far are here to stay rewarded with a happy endingbecause the actor ends his story like this:
Whatever: Massive rehydration and then you feel better. I lost 22 pounds in two days… My digestion was never the same after that.
Knowing what the crew went through on set, some of you may hold the film in even higher regard in the future.
Despite this extremely unpleasant experience, John Rhys-Davies was not finished with Indiana Jonesquite the oppositel: Both in the third part The Last Crusade
(1989) as well as in the grand Indy finale The Wheel of Destiny
(2023), the actor once again took on the role of fan favorite Sallah.
Normally we would like to encourage you to write your personal experiences on the topic in the comments section. We'd rather not do that this time. Instead, give us your opinion on more important questions: Which Indiana Jones flick is your favorite and why exactly? Are you already looking forward to the game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which will be released in 2024?