Sir Ian McKellen admits he "accepted that I'm not immortal" since his 2024 fall
The 86-year-old actor took a nasty tumble while performing in Player Kings at London's Noel Coward Theatre and made a gradual return to work after he suffered a chipped vertebra and a fractured wrist.
18 February 2026
Discussing his mortality, he told The Sunday Times Culture Magazine: "I have accepted that I'm not immortal. Yet I still function. And really the inevitability of mortality comes not just from what you are feeling about yourself, but the simple fact that your friends die - all the time.
"When you are young, death is astonishing, a fascinating thing, but it's a feature of getting older. Death becomes ever present."
His latest role is being part of the cast of the VR (Virtual Reality) production An Ark at the Shed.
Not being live theatre makes it easier for him.
He explained: "Because if something goes wrong with your body, mind or disposition, you can just stop while filming and say, 'Can I have a tea? You can't stop live theatre."
That's not to say he still doesn't enjoy live work, adding: "I can still remember lines and so, considering my age, all is well."
Sir Ian was wearing a fat suit at the time of his fall, and his foot got caught in a chair during a battle scene. As he shook it loose, he slipped on a newspaper scattered on the stage.
He said the injury felt much more serious in the moment, and the biggest challenge afterward was dealing with the "mental disturbance" rather than the physical recovery.
The Lord of the Rings legend explained on the Greatest Hits Radio Drivetime Show: "What I've been left with is not so much a physical injury, but a mental disturbance because I thought it was much more serious at the time that it was.
"I think I thought I was about to die, I thought I'd broken my neck I'd forgotten but apparently, I'd said, 'I've broken my neck, I am dying' and if I said it, I must have thought that I was.
"And I've just got to deal with that. I'm not dying, not just yet and I hope I'll get back to acting again on stage."
Sir Ian actually landed on a member of the audience in the front row.
Chuckling, he told ITV's This Morning: "I don't remember exactly what happened.
"I finally found out who she was, and so I've been in contact with her. But I hope she's alright!"
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