Sir Ian McKellen pulls out of King Lear after hurting his leg (but he treats the audience to new material instead)
Sir Ian McKellen has apologised to theatre-goers after a leg injury forced him to pull out of a performance of King Lear.
The actor, 79, was due to star in a matinee of Shakespeare’s play on Saturday but hurt himself as he ran to catch the train there.
Instead he sat and chatted to the audience at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London – and ‘tried out a few new routines’.
![Sir Ian McKellen has apologised to theatre-goers after a leg injury forced him to pull out of a performance of King Lear](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/08/06/00/4EDCD11F00000578-6029491-image-a-1_1533510761693.jpg)
Sir Ian McKellen has apologised to theatre-goers after a leg injury forced him to pull out of a performance of King Lear
Sir Ian said on Twitter: ‘At the underground station I galloped up 45 steps to catch the train above. Once on it, I skipped along the carriage and my left leg gave way.
‘A strained calf muscle was diagnosed and was painfully pummelled back into life. With a walking stick, I managed the evening performance but not the afternoon one.
‘Instead I chatted on stage to the audience while they waited for their money back and I tried out a few new routines and some old ones – a bit of Gandalf and a couple of Shakespeare speeches.’
He added that scenes including ‘kneeling in the rain-storm’ and ‘carrying Cordelia’s corpse’ would have been impossible. Tomorrow’s performance will go ahead as planned.
Most watched News videos
- Moment police in Leeds forcefully take children out of the house
- Hundreds descend on streets of Leeds for the SECOND night in a row
- Doctor's advice to patients waiting for medicines amid IT outage
- Leeds riots: Heartbroken father sobs and begs for his children back
- Leeds: Moment rioting thugs throw fridge into fire and ignite bus
- Shocking drone footage shows multiple vehicles ablaze in Leeds riot
- Ex-Gov Adviser: IT outage was a 'digital auto-immune disorder'
- From naps to name flubs: Joe Biden's history of awkward gaffes
- Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen after Tel Aviv drone attack
- Moment gay couple brutally whipped with belt and assaulted in Rome
- Deputy speaker slaps down ex-Tory secretary for 'abominable' behaviour
- Mail tries to hike 'impenetrable' terrain where Jay Slater was found