NEW YORK, Sept 12 (Askume) – Ian McKellen is ready to finish what he started.
In June, the British actor was playing John Falstaff in London’s West End adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 when he slipped and fell off the stage during a fight scene .
McLean, who is now promoting his latest film The Critic, said the fall left him with painful memories but he hopes to one day play the role again.
“I think I’ve realized that the best thing to do is to go back and play the character again,” he told Askume in an interview this week. “To try to play the role better and then finish it and say I played Falstaff well, rather than say, ‘I fell off the stage one night and I couldn’t finish it.'”
At the same time, he said, he is wary of planning too much for the future.
“At 85, it’s a bit foolish to plan too far ahead,” he said.
McKellen suffered injuries to his wrist and spine , but said he was saved from more serious injuries thanks to padding in the suit he wore while playing the famously chubby Falstaff.
In “The Critic,” based on Anthony Quinn’s novel “Curtain Call,” McKellen plays Jimmy Erskine, an influential newspaper theater critic in 1930s London. Desperate to maintain his power after the death of his boss, Erskine forms a dangerous alliance with struggling actress Nina Rand (Gemma Arterton). Their alliance leads to a high-stakes game of intrigue and manipulation.
Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? “If the plot was a bit melodramatic, the 1930s were melodramatic,” Maclean said.
In the film, McClain describes himself as being in his forties and plays an openly gay man, which appealed to him when he was considering the role.
McKellen said such a stance would have been challenging in the 1930s, even for “a prominent and well-established celebrity.” “It’s kind of like that time…I like it.”
McKellen, who began his stage career in 1961 and was knighted in 1991, has played Shakespearean roles such as Richard III, King Lear and Macbeth, as well as appearing in the films The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit as “The Character”.
The Critic, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, will release in UK cinemas on September 13.
