Gandalf star Sir Ian McKellen has admitted no magic will allow him to escape his mortality – sparking fears he is on his last legs, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 86-year-old has confessed he’s finally “accepted that I’m not immortal” since his 2024 fall.
‘I Have Accepted That I’m Not Immortal’
Stage and big screen veteran McKellen suffered a brutal tumble while performing in Player Kings at London’s Noel Coward Theatre and made a gradual return to work after he suffered a chipped vertebra and a fractured wrist.
He has now confessed about the impact of the incident: “I have accepted that I’m not immortal. Yet I still function. And really, the inevitability of mortality comes not just from what you are feeling about yourself, but the simple fact that your friends die – all the time.”
McKellen added: “When you are young, death is astonishing, a fascinating thing, but it’s a feature of getting older. Death becomes ever-present.”
His latest role is being part of the cast of the virtual reality production An Ark at the Shed.
Ian McKellen Has ‘Nothing Left to Prove At This Point’
The 86-year-old actor previously suffered a brutal tumble while performing in London.
McKellen also said he has developed a fear of doing live theatre as he may forget lines.
He added: “If something goes wrong with your body, mind, or disposition, you can just stop while filming and say, ‘Can I have a tea? You can’t stop live theatre.”
But McKellen reassured fans: “I can still remember lines and so, considering my age, all is well.”
A source told us: “Ian is clearly dwelling on his mortality now, and his inner circle thinks he should simply relax and stop trying to push himself. He has nothing left to prove at this point, and if he is on his last legs, he should just enjoy his twilight years.”
Ian McKellen’s Great Big Fall
McKellen currently stars in a virtual reality production called ‘An Ark at the Shed.’
McKellen was wearing a fat suit at the time of his theater fall. His foot got caught in a chair during a battle scene. As he shook it loose, he slipped on a newspaper scattered on the stage.
He said the injury felt much more serious in the moment, and the biggest challenge in the wake of the injury was dealing with the “mental disturbance” it caused.
He added on the Greatest Hits Radio Drivetime Show: “What I’ve been left with is not so much a physical injury, but a mental disturbance because I thought it was much more serious at the time than it was.
“I think I thought I was about to die, I thought I’d broken my neck, I’d forgotten, but apparently, I’d said, ‘I’ve broken my neck, I am dying,’ and if I said it, I must have thought that I was. And I’ve just got to deal with that. I’m not dying, not just yet and I hope I’ll get back to acting again on stage.”
McKellen’s fall was cushioned by an audience member, and he joked in a separate interview: “I don’t remember exactly what happened.
“I finally found out who she was, and so I’ve been in contact with her. But I hope she’s alright!”
McKellen has built a distinguished stage career with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Born in 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire.
Trained at Cambridge, McKellen built a distinguished stage career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, earning fame for powerful Shakespearean performances.
He achieved global recognition portraying Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and Magneto in the X-Men films, showcasing his commanding presence and versatility.
Knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts, he is also an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
With a career spanning theatre, film, and television, McKellen remains one of Britain’s most respected and beloved actors.
