Sir Ian McKellen, 85, hospitalized after falling off theater stage during performance
Sir Ian McKellen was taken to the hospital after falling off the stage during a show in London on Monday, Page Six can confirm.
The 85-year-old actor was mid-way through his performance in “Player Kings” at the Noël Coward theatre when he lost his footing.
The beloved English actor, who plays John Falstaff in the show, was doing a fight scene when he fell off the front of the stage and cried out in pain, according to the BBC, who was first to report the news.
As crew members rushed to help, the house lights came up and the audience was evacuated from the theater, per the outlet.
Although the scene was “very shocking,” one audience member told the BBC that McKellen was “conscious” after the fall.
“I really hope that he is going to be alright,” Sandro Trapani said.
Meanwhile, other audience members took to X to wish the “Lord of the Rings” star well after witnessing the “terrible fall.”
“Audience shocked by Sir Ian McKellen’s fall off stage tonight at Noel Coward Theatre. Staff working hard to help him. Thoughts with him, cast and crew,” Paul Nero, a writer and broadcaster, wrote on X.
Someone else responded to his tweet, saying McKellen “sounded in a bad way.”
In a statement shared with Page Six, reps for McKellen thanked the “audience and the general public for their well wishes” and assured fans that he is on the mend.
“Following a scan, the brilliant NHS team have assured us that he will make a speedy and full recovery and Ian is in good spirits,” the statement read.
They also thanked two doctors who were in the audience and sprung into action.
However, prodcuers “made the decision to cancel the performance on Tuesday 18 June so Ian can rest.”
“Player Kings” — a three-hour-plus adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I and Part II — started its 12-week run in April 2024.
As of now, the play is expected to run until Saturday in the West End before going on tour throughout the United Kingdom until the end of July.
This is the actor’s sixth stage role in the three years since theaters reopened following the COVID shutdown.
McKellen told the Times earlier this month that he looks at every role like it could be his last now that he is in his mid-80s.
“If you want to know that you are mortal you just have to look at your address book,” he told the outlet.
“And so when a script comes through, or the hint of an offer, you think, ‘This might be my last job. No. I’m not doing that.’” he said. “So if Falstaff is my last job, I’d better get it right, hadn’t I?”
