Ian McKellen has said he is dealing with “agonising pain” following his fall from the theatre stage in June, and that he now “avoids going out”.
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In June, the actor, 85, lost his footing and fell from the stage at the Noël Coward in the West End during a performance of Player Kings. He was rushed to a hospital, while the audience were evacuated from the venue and the rest of the performance was cancelled.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, McKellen’s publicist said he was expected to make a “speedy and full recovery”.
It was reported in the following days that the actor had suffered a fractured wrist in the fall, and then later confirmed that he would not return for the remaining performances of the show in London.
In July, the news arrived that McKellen would in fact not return to any remaining performances of Player Kings outside of London either. He wrote that he took the decision “with the greatest reluctance” and was doing it to “protect my full recovery”.
Now, he has given his first interview since the incident to Saga Magazine, where he confirmed he had chipped a vertebra and fractured his wrist.
He said he is still recovering and wearing a neck brace and has not yet healed. “I avoid going out because I’m nervous someone might bump into me, and I’ve been dealing with agonising pain in my shoulders due to the jolt my body took (via the Standard).
“But the fat suit I wore for Falstaff saved my ribs and other joints, so I consider myself lucky,” he added.
“I’ve relived that fall countless times. It was horrible. I thought it was the end of something. It was very upsetting. The end didn’t mean my death, but it felt like the end of my participation in the play.”
“I have to keep telling myself I’m not too old to act,” he added. “It was just a bloody accident. I didn’t lose consciousness, I hadn’t been dizzy, but I’ve not been able to return to the stage, and they’ve continued without me.”
McKellen was playing John Falstaff in Player Kings, a production of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I and II.
Earlier this year, McKellen expressed interest in reprising his role as Gandalf in the upcoming Lord Of The Rings spinoff. The actor portrayed the wizard in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy of films from 2001 to 2003 and is keen on returning to the franchise after it was confirmed that Warner Bros. is working on a number of projects set in Middle Earth, the first of which is a 2026 film tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
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