By Sir Ian McKellen turned 85 the other week, the beloved “X-Men” and “The Lord of the Rings” actor has spent recent weeks playing Shakespeare’s Falstaff in Robert Icke’s “Player Kings” play on the West End.
Mortality seems to be weighing on him with the actor telling The Times that one reason he’s being more picky with screen projects these days is consideration of his age.
He says: “When a script comes through, or the hint of an offer, you think, ‘This might be my last job. No. I’m not doing that.’”
Would he ever return to the Gandalf role though, such as with the Peter Jackson-produced and Andy Serkis-directed new “Lord of the Rings” film “The Hunt for Gollum” due out in 2026?
He’s heard “stirrings in Tolkien land” and there’s talk Gandalf may feature in the movie. However, he says “there is no script, there is no offer, there is no plan” at present regarding his involvement.
Would he be interested? After a pause and chuckle, he says: “If I’m alive.” He also says that thanks to his role as Falstaff, he’s already got the long white hair for it and he hasn’t “shaved in months”.
Falstaff is actually his sixth stage role in the past three years following turns as Hamlet and an adaptation of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard” among others.
On film, McKellen most recently appeared in Anand Tucker’s “The Critic” and narrated two episodes of Peacock’s “Ted”.
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