The British actor who plays Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings hospitalized after a fall on stage will not reprise his role in the play he performed in London.
Victim of a spectacular fall on stage on June 17, actor Ian McKellen will not reprise his role in the play. Player KingsThe 85-year-old actor had initially promised a quick return to the stage at the Noel Coward Theatre in London.
Ian McKellen, who played John Falstaff, said that to his “great regret” and to “aid his recovery”, he would not be reprising his role in the play.
“After Ian McKellen’s injury during the performance of Player Kings in the West End, his doctors have advised him to rest in order to make a full recovery,” the production said in a statement.
“He will therefore not return to play Sir John Falstaff in the national tour of Players Kings (3-27 July 2024). Ian continues to recover very well, but he needs time to rest and ensure a full recovery.”
His understudy takes over the role
“As with the last West End performances, the role of Falstaff will now be played by David Semark, Ian’s brilliant understudy, for all dates of the Player Kings tour.”
“Ian’s morale is good,” the theatre’s spokesperson told the BBC the following day, assuring that the actor was “recovering quickly.”
Gandalf et Magneto
“After three nights in hospital, the effects of my fall on stage have been fully analysed and I am now doing physiotherapy, some exercise and lots of rest at home, which is essential,” the actor said a few days later.
A specialist in Shakespeare, which he has performed many times in theatre, on television and in cinema, Ian McKellen became a global star in the 2000s when he played Magneto, a mutant capable of manipulating metal in X-Menthen the long-bearded wizard Gandalf, in the trilogy Lord of the Rings and that of the Hobbit.
He also performed iconic characters of British culture such as Sherlock Holmes and played many historical figures from Richard III to Tsar Nicholas II and King Edward VII. In 2005, he starred in the cult British series Coronation Street, for 10 episodes.
