Sir Ian McKellen has shared the frightening details of his stage accident during a performance in London’s West End. The 85 year old sustained a broken wrist and chipped vertebra after falling from the stage in June.
During an appearance on BBC Breakfast this morning, McKellen credited his costume’s padding for protecting him during his portrayal of Shakespeare’s Falstaff, which potentially saved him from even more serious harm.
In conversation with journalist Tim Muffett, the acting legend assured his followers that he is on the mend but admitted that the tumble was alarming, reports the Mirror.
When Tim welcomed him with “Thank you for inviting us into your lovely home. How are you?”, McKellen answered: “Yes so I think I’m fine.”
Commenting on the fall, he recalled: “It was a nasty fall and it was a shock. I fractured my wrist, what every kid does when they fall off their bike and I clipped my vertebra.”
Upon further prompting by Tim about the actual moment of the incident, McKellen said: “I was moving about then my foot got caught on a chair, which I tried to kick off but doing that I fell forward like I was on a skateboard down onto the stage, which is a three foot drop.”
The star, who is playing John Falstaff in Player Kings, Robert Icke’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts One and Two, also spoke of his fortune in the circumstances, adding: “I was extremely lucky that I was wearing a padded suit because the part I was playing is fat.”
To quash any speculation, he went on: “It wasn’t that I was feeling dizzy or anything like that, it was a pure accident.”
The double Academy Award nominee also sent an apology to fans who missed his performance: “I call myself lucky that it’s beginning to be a distant memory. It did mean that I couldn’t do the tour so if there is a chance for me to apologise to the audience in Bristol, Birmingham and Newcastle. I’m sorry I wasn’t there but I’ll be back.”
Despite being keen to hit the stage again, the seasoned actor revealed his plans to take a well-earned break from performing ‘for the rest of the year’.
In a chat with the Big Issue recently, he confided: “I’m usually working or preparing to work, I’ve been doing a little bit of that, wondering what might be the best plan. I’m going to take the rest of the year off. Not because I need to, just because I want to.”
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