Sir Ian McKellen has issued a heart-breaking update and said that he won’t return to the stage for at least another year. It comes after the acclaimed actor suffered a horror fall during a West End production.
The Hollywood star had been performing a fight scene when he lost his footing and fell into the audience on Monday 17 June. After his fall, Ian updated his fans with a tweet on X and said that his recovery would be “speedy.”
However, it was later confirmed that the 85 year old would not be performing for the rest of the production’s tour.
A statement from the production said: “Following Ian McKellen’s injury during the West End run of Player Kings, his doctors’ advice is to take time off from work in order to fully recover. As such, he will not be returning to play Sir John Falstaff in the national tour of Players Kings (3-27 July 2024).”
Speaking to Simon Marks on his Greatest Hits Radio Drivetime on Wednesday, Ian spoke about his physical injuries and admitted that he won’t plan on returning to the stage for another year.
“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,” he said.
He later added: “That’s a good point – I think I’ll know because the contract says I have to turn up at a particular time! I’m not proposing to work on stage for another year and I think by then this will all be alright.”
Ian McKellen is famed for his roles in The Lord of the Rings and in the X-Men franchise. He has also recieved 12 Olivier nominations during his successful stage career and won six for his roles in The Alchemist, Bent, Wild Honey, Pillars Of The Community, Richard III and Ian McKellen On Stage.
The Lord of the Rings actor has since admitted to Saga Magazine that he is “too scared to leave his house” after he “chipped his vertebrae and fractured his wrist.”
Speaking to the publication, he is now wearing a wrist support and neck brace as he continues to make a full recovery.
He said: “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. So I’ve had a lucky escape really. […] I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible.”
