Sir Ian McKellen is in “Good Spirits” after failing on the West End stage
Sir Ian McKellen may have fallen over, but he wouldn’t stay long. On Monday, the 85-year-old actor fell off the stage during a performance at London’s Noël Coward Theater — but the play’s producers now say he is “in good spirits” and plans to return to the show. perform.
McKellen currently plays the plump and flamboyant John Falstaff in King of players, a work by William Shakespeare Henri IV, parts one and two, directed by Robert Icke. According to BBC reporter Alex Phillips, the Lord of the Rings the actor fell off the stage during a fight scene involving Falstaff, the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy. Per Phillips, the accident occurred after McKellen appeared to slip.
“It happened so quickly that at first it seemed like part of the show,” Phillips wrote. “But the actor called for help and the staff rushed to help.”
After McKellen’s fall, the 80-year-old man was taken to the hospital and the audience left the theater. The following evening’s performance King of players was later cancelled. According to the manufacturer’s statement, McKellen was scanned at the hospital and doctors at the British National Health Service said the actor would “recover quickly and fully”. The producer’s statement added that “Ian is in good spirits” and that the actor is expected to return in concert on Wednesday.
Over the course of his illustrious six-decade acting career, McKellen has been nominated for two Academy Awards and five BAFTA Awards, and he has won a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award and six Olivier Awards. He is perhaps best known for his role as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings trio and Hobbit movies, as well as Magneto in the original X-Men movies. In recent years, McKellen has become a familiar face on the London stage, playing the title role of King Lear and an elderly person Hamleta role he plans to reprise in the director’s new film adaptation Sean Mathias.
King of players‘ the show closes at the Noël Coward Theater this Sunday.
