Sir Ian McKellen has spoken out about his health in his first interview since his “horrible” fall from the stage during West End show, Player Kings.
The actor said he is now “nervous” to go out as he is still in a neck brace and his right hand is splinted.
The 85-year-old claimed his “fat suit” in his role as John Falstaff in a condensed version of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts I and II, “saved” him from more serious injury.
Speaking candidly to Saga Magazine, the screen legend detailed how he was doing following the incident in June.
Sir Ian McKellen at The Delaunay Presents An Evening With in April. He has today spoken out about his health following his fall off stage.
Dave Benett/GETTY
Stating he has “relived” what happened “many times”, McKellen recalled how he’d got his foot caught on a chair, before sliding on some newspapers and landing in the lap of an audience member in the front row.
He said: “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. So I’ve had a lucky escape really.”
McKellen continued: “I thought it [the fall] was the end of something. It was very upsetting.”
Clarifying how he didn’t mean his death but instead the play, he added: “I have to keep assuring myself that I’m not too old to act and it was just a b****y accident.
“… I feel such shame. I was hoping to be able to rejoin the play on the tour, but I couldn’t.”
McKellen, who was replaced by his understudy David Semark, said he is being looked after by his friends and neighbors, revealing that he “couldn’t manage” without them.
He is thought to have spent three nights in hospital due to his injuries before being pictured six weeks later at Theatre Royal wearing a neck brace and wrist support.
He previously wrote on X, formerly Twitter, to his 3.9 million followers: “I want to assure my many well-wishers that the injuries (to wrist and neck) are on the mend. My doctors promise a complete recovery – but only if I avoid work over the next few weeks.
“Meanwhile the show goes on and the Player Kings company start their four weeks’ tour without me. My understudy David Semark, who with panache took over for the final performances at the Noël Coward Theatre in the West End of London, will play Falstaff again in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle.
“Any actor will say that missing a performance feels somewhat shameful, even when he is not to blame. None of us ever wants to let down our audience.”
