McKellen played Falstaff in “Player Kings” – a play combining the plots of two parts of William Shakespeare's “Henry IV”. During one of the scenes, there was a duel between the characters. McKellen was circling the fighters when he suddenly tripped and fell off the stage.
According to witnesses of the event, quoted by BBC television, everything looked “very dramatic”. The actor shouted for help, and the audience was quickly evacuated from the theater. McKellen, known for his role as Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies, was taken to hospital.
According to representatives of the Noël Coward Theater, “doctors assured that Ian is in good spirits and will recover quickly.” To give him time to rest, the performance scheduled for the evening of June 18, 2024 was canceled. In a statement, the Theater authorities also thanked the doctors present at the performance, who immediately reacted to the actor's fall.
The play “Player Kings” debuted on the West End in April 2024. It is planned to be exhibited for 12 weeks.
On May 25, 2024, Ian McKellen turned 85. Born and raised in an industrial area in the north of England, he has been acting professionally since 1961. Viewers are primarily familiar with his film roles: Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings”, Magneto from the “X-Men” series, and director James Whale in “Gods and Monsters”, for which he received the first Oscar nomination in his career.
McKellen has made a name for himself through his theater performances. On the stage of The Royal Shakespeare Company, he played the most important characters in Shakespeare's plays, including Macbeth, Romeo and Iago.
This isn't the first time McKellen has been forced to cancel a show due to an accident. In 2018, the actor suffered a minor injury while running to catch a train. Because of her, he had to cancel his performance in “King Lear” at London's Duke of York Theatre. Not wanting to disappoint viewers who had already purchased tickets, McKellen appeared on stage for a Q&A session, during which he answered questions from the audience.