Actor Sir Ian McKellen today insisted ‘I’ll be back’ after suffering a chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist when he fell from a West End stage three months ago.
The 85-year-old star lost his footing during a fight scene in Player King on June 17 at the Noel Coward Theatre in London before falling into the shocked audience.
Two-time Oscar nominee Sir Ian has since been recovering and has also revealed a fat suit he was wearing for his role as Falstaff saved him from being seriously injured.
In his first television interview about the fall, Sir Ian told BBC Breakfast today: ‘I think I’m fine. It was a nasty fall. And it was a shock, initially. But I fractured my wrist. It’s what every kid does when he falls off his bike. And chipped a vertebrae.’
Sir Ian was also asked how the incident happened, and explained. ‘I am moving about, got my foot caught in the remains of a chair, which I tried to kick off.
Sir Ian McKellen told BBC Breakfast ‘I’ll be back’ in his first TV interview about the stage fall
Sir Ian McKellen speaks to Tim Muffett on BBC Breakfast about his fall in the West End in June
‘In doing that, I propelled myself forward, as it were, on a skateboard, on the newspaper, shiny surface, down to the forestage, and then off the stage which was a 3ft drop – partly broken by a member of the audience on the front row.’
Sir Ian, who played John Falstaff in the play, a production adapted by Robert Icke from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, parts one and two, also revealed that the incident could have been worse had it not been for his costume.
He continued: ‘I was extremely lucky in that I was wearing a padded suit, because Falstaff, the part I was playing, is fat. It wasn’t that I’d got dizzy or anything like that. It was a pure accident. So I count myself lucky that it’s beginning to be a distant memory.’
After a run in London, the play moved to the Bristol Hippodrome before being staged in Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle.
And Sir Ian said: ‘It did mean then that I couldn’t do the tour, so if it’s a chance for me to apologise to the audiences in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle – I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but I’ll be back.’
Sir Ian McKellen at the press night performance of Player Kings at the Noel Coward on April 11
Sir Ian performs in a scene from Player Kings, which was on in the West End until Saturday
In another interview released today, Sir Ian told the Big Issue that he has been ‘left feeling weak physically’ from the fall and is doing exercise to treat the issue.
The Burnley-born actor added: ‘Of course, it’s emotional. We all trip all our lives, it’s just when you get to my age you can’t always get up again.’
Sir Ian suggested he is concerned that the fall, which left him with injuries including a chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist, could have been the result of him getting old.
‘I’m just trying to convince myself it was an accident,’ he said.
‘I’m usually working or preparing to work, I’ve been doing a little bit of that, wondering what might be the best plan. I’m going to take the rest of the year off. Not because I need to, just because I want to.’
It comes as a new swathe of The Lord Of The Rings films is in the works with Andy Serkis directing and starring in the first instalment called the The Hunt for Gollum as the corrupted character of the same name as the title, also known as Smeagol.
Members of the audience gather outside the Noel Coward Theatre in London on June 17
And Sir Ian has pointed to him returning as the wizard Gandalf, the character he played in the first three films and The Hobbit trilogy, all directed by New Zealand film-maker Peter Jackson.
‘Enthusiasm for The Lord of the Rings shows no sign of abating,’ he said. ‘I may even be going back to play Gandalf again.’
He added: ‘I can’t tell you any more than that. I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved, and they hope that I’ll be playing him.
‘When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So, they better be quick.’
Sir Ian also spoke about how the US presidential election has been progressing as Vice President Kamala Harris takes on former president Donald Trump.
He said: ‘Though we’re not Americans, we have a right to be interested and concerned. It’s not an internal affair. The president in the United States can be a force for good and not good.’
Paramedics at the scene in London’s West End on June 17 following the actor’s shock fall
Asked if he supported Ms Harris, he said: ‘There’s no choice, is there? Oh dear, Trump is so blatantly what he is, which is slightly reassuring.
‘Other wicked politicians have disguised themselves, it’s all on display with Trump: his prejudices, his ignorance, his stupidity, his incompetence, his lack of experience in matters that matter.
‘One impressive message to come out of Chicago has been saying we must listen to each other. Nothing wrong with having a good argument but let’s hear what the disagreements are. You discover that your differences may be huge but, actually, there are a lot of similarities that bring people together.’
In a previous interview with Saga magazine on August 20, Sir Ian revealed that the fat suit ‘saved’ his ‘ribs and other joints’ during the fall.
He said: ‘I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible. It was in the battle scene. My foot got caught in a chair, and trying to shake it off I started to slide on some newspaper that was scattered over the stage, like I was on a skateboard.
Ambulances rushed to the West End to help Sir Ian following the stage fall on June 17
‘The more I tried to get rid of it, the faster I proceeded down a step, onto the forestage, and then on to the lap of someone in the front row.
‘I started screaming, ‘Help me!’ and then ‘I’m sorry! I don’t do this!’. Extraordinary things. I thought it was the end of something. It was very upsetting.’
‘The end’, he clarifies, did not mean ‘my death. It was my participation in the play. I have to keep assuring myself that I’m not too old to act and it was just a bloody accident.
‘I didn’t lose consciousness, I hadn’t been dizzy, but I’ve not been able to go back and they still played without me.
‘I don’t feel guilty, but the accident has let down the whole production,’ he said. ‘I feel such shame. I was hoping to be able to rejoin the play on the tour, but I couldn’t.’
Speaking about his injuries he said: ‘My chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist are not yet mended.
The interior of the Noel Coward Theatre in London showing the stage from which Sir Ian fell
‘I don’t go out because I get nervous in case someone bangs into me, and I’ve got agonising pains in my shoulders to do with my whole frame having been jolted.
‘But I was wearing a fat suit for Falstaff and that saved my ribs and other joints.’
Sir Ian also said he was being looked after by his neighbours and joked that he what he is missing the most at the moment is the pub quiz at The Grapes, the pub he part-owns in East London.
Sir Ian’s understudy, David Semark, stepped in to finish the run in the West End, and continued to play the role during the national tour.
Sir Ian was unable to return due to his injuries and told Saga magazine that ‘there are suggestions we’ll do (the play) again, but we’ll see’.
His career has spanned more than six decades and seen the actor perform at theatres around the country.
Away from Lord of the Rings, he is also known on screen for playing Magneto in the X-Men films.
Sir Ian has played a number of Shakespearean characters including Richard II, Macbeth, Coriolanus, and King Lear.
His many acting credits have led to a number of accolades over the years including several Olivier Awards.