Sir Ian McKellen has said that he doesn’t “go out” anymore, after his fall from the stage during a performance of Player Kings in the West End.
The 85-year-old has been suffering from wrist and neck injuries after he lost his footing during a fight scene at the Noel Coward Theatre in June this year. McKellen cried out in pain as staff rushed to help, with the show promptly being cancelled, and the audience asked to leave.
He had hoped to return to the stage following the accident, but was later forced to withdraw following medical advice.
Although the Lord of the Rings star had assured fans he was “on the mend”, he has now admitted that he has struggled with “shame” since the incident, and doesn’t go out anymore in case he “bangs 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 said.
“I feel such shame. I was hoping to be able to rejoin the play on the tour, but I couldn’t”, he added.
Detailing his injuries, he explained: “My chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist are not yet mended.
“I don’t go out because I get nervous in case someone bangs into me, and I’ve got agonising pains in my shoulders to do with my whole frame having been jolted. But I was wearing a fat suit for Falstaff and that saved my ribs and other joints.”
Describing the events of the night in greater detail, he explained: “It was in the battle scene. My foot got caught in a chair, and trying to shake it off I started to slide on some newspaper that was scattered over the stage, like I was on a skateboard.
I don’t go out because I get nervous in case someone bangs into me, and I’ve got agonising pains in my shoulders to do with my whole frame having been jolted
Sir Ian McKellen
“The more I tried to get rid of it, the faster I proceeded down a step, onto the forestage, and then onto the lap of someone in the front row.
“I started screaming, ‘Help me!’ and then ‘I’m sorry! I don’t do this!’ Extraordinary things. I thought it was the end of something. It was very upsetting.”
By “the end” he clarified that he did not mean “my death”, but worried about his participation in the play.
McKellen played John Falstaff in the play, a production adapted by Robert Icke from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, parts one and two.
The Lord of the Rings star said he is being looked after by his neighbours and joked that what he is missing the most at the moment is the pub quiz at The Grapes, the pub he part-owns in east London.
McKellen’s understudy, David Semark, stepped in to finish the run in the West End, and continued to play the role during the national tour. The actor hinted that “there are suggestions we’ll do (the play) again, but we’ll see”.
Additional reporting by agencies