LONDON (AP) — Actor Ian McKellen said Tuesday he’s eager to get back to work after collapsing on stage in London and being hospitalized.
McKellen, 85, said Monday night during a performance of “Player’s Kings” at London’s Noel Coward Theater that he owed “great credit” to the doctors who treated him.
“They have assured me that my recovery will be complete and speedy, and I look forward to returning to work,” he said on the X social media site, formerly known as Twitter.
Performances on Tuesday and Wednesday were canceled after the accident and are scheduled to resume on Thursday.
A veteran of stage and screen, he played Gandalf “Lord of the Rings” According to a BBC journalist who was in the theatre, the moviegoers screamed in pain after falling. McKellen played the rugged John Falstaff in “Blair Kings,” an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s two “Henry IV” historical plays directed by Robert Icke.
Theatergoers were startled when McKellen tripped and fell off the stage during a fight scene between Doheb Zimo’s Prince Hal and Samuel Edward-Cook’s Henry Percy.
“Sir Ian stumbled as he moved down the stage to take a more active part in the scene,” audience member Paul Critchley told the PA news agency, adding it was a shock. “As he moved down the stage he picked up speed and as a result he fell off the stage in front of the audience.”
Staff and two doctors in the audience helped the actor, the theater said in a statement. The theater was evacuated and the show cancelled.
McKellen starred as Magneto in the “X-Men” films and is one of Britain’s most acclaimed Shakespearean actors, with roles including Richard III, Macbeth and King Lear.
He has won a Tony Award – for “Amadeus” – multiple Olivier Awards, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, five Emmys and several BAFTAs.
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