Veteran British actor Sir Ian McKellen says a fat suit that he wore to play the famously portly Shakespearean character Falstaff saved him from even worse injuries when he fell from a London stage in June. In an interview for Saga magazine , he revealed he was still recovering from the experience, with his neck in a brace and right hand in a splint. The actor who won worldwide fame for his role as Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings trilogy said he was being cared for by friends.
"I was wearing a fat suit for Falstaff and that saved my ribs and other joints," he told the magazine which is marketed at older readers. "So I’ve had a lucky escape really but..
. tell Saga readers to watch their step!" The actor had been performing in a fight scene in Player Kings - a new play combining Henry iV, Parts 1 and Part 2 - at London's Noel Coward Theatre when he lost his footing. It was reported at the time that he had cried out in pain, calling for help, and a staff member rushed to assist him.
He was taken to hospital and the play was cancelled for the rest of its London run. "I’ve relived that fall I don’t know how many times. It was horrible," McKellen told Saga.
"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. "The more I tried to get rid of it, the faster I proceeded down a step, onto the forestage, and then on to the lap of someone.