Sir Ian McKellen, the veteran actor whose work includes Richard III, The Lord of the Rings franchise, and the X-Men films, reflected on his own mortality at 86 in a new interview. The legend of stage and screeenfell off the stage in 2024 and had to be hospitalized. He also reflected on this.
Ian McKellen discusses his 2024 West End accident
Ian McKellen, who has won five Olivier Awards alongside his numerous famous screen roles, opened up about his mortality in a new interview with The Times. He discussed his life after his accident and subsequent hospitalization in 2024. Reports state that the Magneto actor fell off the stage during a London theater performance. It resulted in a fractured wrist and a chipped vertebra.
“I have accepted that I’m not immortal,” McKellen told The Times, “Yet I still function.”
He continued, “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. When you are young, death is astonishing, a fascinating thing, but it’s a feature of getting older. Death becomes ever-present.”
Following the accident, the 86-year-old did not return to that production of Player Kings. He also opted out of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival premiere of The Christophers.
Now, the veteran star is appearing in An Ark at New York City’s The Shed. This is an experimental production using virtual reality glasses.
He added about this, “I thought that was the safest way of getting back to work…Because 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 I have done a few sallies back into working on stage and, to my great relief, I still love doing it and didn’t find it unnerving. I can still remember lines, and so, considering my age, all is well.”
McKellen also recalled the death of a friend, who seemingly passed away peacefully, in this interview. “Regrets? I’ve had a few. It’s never satisfactory when someone dies, but I take comfort that when the people I’ve been close to are dying, they seem ready, even welcoming of it,” he added, before concluding that he “still got more to do.”
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