Sir Ian McKellen says ‘death is ever present’ after fall from West End stage

Sir Ian McKellen has said that “death is ever present” two years after his fall from the stage during a performance in London’s West End.

The 86-year-old suffered wrist and neck injuries after he lost his footing during a fight scene while starring as Henry IV character John Falstaff in Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre in June 2024.

McKellen cried out in pain as staff rushed to help and the show was promptly cancelled. He had hoped to return to the stage following the accident, but was later forced to withdraw following medical advice.

The British actor opened up about how the fall affected him mentally in a new interview with The Times: ”I have accepted that I’m not immortal. Yet I still function. And 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.”

He continued: “When you are young, death is astonishing, a fascinating thing, but it’s a feature of getting older. Death becomes ever present.”

McKellen said that when somebody he knows dies, “the continuing emotion is that there was more to be done – I could have had longer with them, accepted that invitation, done that job with them”.

The actor, who is promoting an experimental VR production titled An Ark in the Shed, added: “What I feel about my life is that I’ve still got more to do.”

Shortly after his fall, the Lord of the Rings star said he struggled with “shame” since the incident, and refused to go out in case he “banged into someone”.

“I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible,” he told Saga magazine, recounting the events of the night.

“I have to keep assuring myself that I’m not too old to act and it was just a bloody accident,” he said. “I didn’t lose consciousness, I hadn’t been dizzy, but I’ve not been able to go back and they still played without me.”

“I don’t feel guilty, but the accident has let down the whole production,” he continued. “I feel such shame. I was hoping to be able to rejoin the play on the tour, but I couldn’t.”

Later this year, McKellen will reprise the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings film The Hunt for Gollum, which is shooting in New Zealand in July.