Sir Ian McKellen, 85, vows to continue working ‘as long as the mind keeps working’ amid nasty fall

Sir Ian McKellen has admitted he has no plans to retire in the coming years despite the fall he had back in June whilst performing as John Falstaff in the play Player’s Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre.

The two-time Oscar nominee, 85, lost his footing during a performance of the play and ended up breaking his wrist and chipping a vertebrae – forcing the production to cancel some of the shows in the days following his incident.

However, the Gandalf actor has insisted that he doesn’t intend to retire anytime soon and will be back doing what he loves best at the beginning of next year.

“What else would I be doing if I wasn’t working? I shall take the rest of the year off and then get back to work in January. Just keep at it as long as the legs and the lungs and the mind keep working.”

Despite feeling better, the 85-year-old revealed he does forget some people’s names but he feels that is also because he has more to remember than people who are younger than him.

He added to BBC Breakfast: “Nevertheless, it’s a nuisance when you can’t remember your best friend’s name or forget your telephone number. If you see me or hear I’m doing something, you know it’s worth doing. Whether I do it well is a matter for judgment.”

McKellen added that he was doing “fine” after the “nasty” fall which occurred after his foot caught in the remains of a chair, adding that when he tried to kick it off, it propelled him forward, leaving him to slip on the polished stage floor.

The star told the Daily Mail: “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.”

He opened up about the fall a few weeks after it happened and told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “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, but it did mean that I couldn’t do the tour, so if it’s a chance for me to apologise to the audiences in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich, I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but I’ll be back.

“I said to myself as I slid off the stage and tripped and slipped on a polished service, ‘This is the end’, these were the words in my mind. And apparently, I shouted out, ‘My leg is broken. I’m dying.’ I don’t remember saying that.

“So there was a lot going on in my head as the body responded to the fall.”

Despite taking the rest of the year off, McKellen is adamant that he will be returning as the character Gandalf after reports emerged that a new swathe of The Lord Of The Rings films is in the works with Andy Serkis directing and starring in the first instalment.

Discussing his possible return, McKellen told The Big Issue: “Well, I’ve had some indication from the powers that be, Gandalf will make an appearance, and I’m not letting anybody else put on the pointy hat and beard if I can help it.

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“Enthusiasm for The Lord Of The Rings shows no sign of abating. I may even be going back to play Gandalf again. 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.”