John Hannah is returning to the “Mummy” franchise – and he’s not the only one. 

“You’ve heard all the rumors and it’s true. Everyone’s back,” he told journalists at Monte-Carlo Television Festival. 

The fourth installment will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, known for “Ready or Not” or “Scream.” While the participation of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz was already announced, “there will be some surprises,” assured Hannah. 

“Arnold [Vosloo], who I’m still big pals with, and my other favorite: Kevin J. O’Connor. He’s a fantastic actor. Funnily enough, we went to this convention recently and this guy came up to us. He was wearing a mask. He asked if Kevin J. O’Connor was there as well, I said no, and then he took off his mask. It was Kevin,” he said. 

“I gave Brendan a shout out, he came over and everybody was hugging Kevin. Later, he joined us on the panel. Kevin had kind of fallen off the path a little bit; he’d gone home to look after his father towards the end of his life. But then we found him again. Brendan had sort of whispered in my ear previously about the potential of this happening and it wasn’t long after that that official contact was made.”

Recalling his encounters with fans, Hannah said: “Some of those interactions really humble you. It has been almost 30 years since ‘The Mummy’ and the fact that people are still interested, and it means so much to them… They watch it with their grandkids.”

At first, he wasn’t sure if “The Mummy” was the right choice for him. 

“When I was a young actor and doing Chekhov and Shakespeare, I was pretentious, even though before I went to drama school, I read a book for the first time. When I left school at 16, I hadn’t even finished ‘Of Mice and Men,’ which is only about three pages long,” he recalled.

He was happy to work with director Stephen Sommers – “a fantastically talented, wonderful human being” – and “just follow Brendan’s lead.” 

“And Kevin’s, actually. Before, we made ‘The Love Bug’ together, with Bruce Campbell, directed by Peyton Reed. As bizarre as that casting was, it was a moment of good fortune. Once, we had this meeting for ‘The Mummy’ and one of the producers lent me and my agent his jet. We were just going around, opening all the drawers.” 

He noted: “Stephen was so wonderful and charming, and wanted me to do it – I’ll never know why, but I kind of went along with it. And here I am, and Brendan and I are the only ones that were in all four films.”

Used to being the shadows, he was shocked to find out a certain A lister knew his name. 

“I was at Paul Greengrass’ party, and he directed all the ‘Bourne’ films. Matt Damon turned up, and not only recognized me, but he remembered my name. I was really impressed, because I never remember anybody’s names.”

Hannah recently worked on pirate drama series “Sandokan” and “Benidorm Is Murder.”

“I loved that show. It’s brilliantly written and every character has a purpose. I play an ex-cop who’s running a bar, and ends up getting involved in [shenanigans]. I’m really proud of it. I hope we get a good audience and get to do it again.” 

Initially focusing on theater, he made his debut in TV show “Brond.” In 1994, “Four Weddings and a Funeral” changed everything.

“It was an overnight success – nine years after I left drama school,” he laughed. 

“It made a big difference and kind of affected me mentally, precisely because of those nine years where I’d been struggling. I remember a very particular case: I had an audition at the National Theatre, but I also had a dentist appointment which clashed, and they wouldn’t [change it]. Right after ‘Four Weddings,’ I was offered a lead role at the National Theatre – a role which I would never have, never in a million years been considered for prior to that. That really angered me. It really made me cross how fickle the industry is.”

He’s made his peace with that, though. 

“I don’t think I’m particularly talented or funny, but I think I have a gift for meeting talented, funny, good people. My parents were good people and I’ve got one good sister,” he joked. 

“I was saying to someone this morning, this Palestinian filmmaker I met in the elevator, that for all the talent you need and the drive that you have, and the ability to put up with rejection, one of the other things that you need is a bit of luck.”