Sir Ian McKellen continues to prove that you can’t keep a good Gandalf down! The beloved actor took an unexpected journey from on-the-stage to in-the-audience this summer when he fell while performing in London. Though Sir Ian is a healthy, young wizard of 85, any accident at that age requires a dedicated, careful recovery, especially for anyone who wants to continue working, as our plucky wizard does. So with a heavy heart, Sir Ian dropped out of the play and has further decided not to do any acting jobs for the rest of the year. Lucky for us, though, Sir Ian already had a film in the can that he’s now promoting from the comfort of his home. The Critic features Sir Ian playing an irascible, sharp-tongued 1930s theater critic, and in a new interview with USA Today he recounts what critics have said of him over the years, and how Lord of the Rings has been “the great unexpected joy of my career.”

A review to remember: No one is immune to bad reviews. Take it from Sir Ian McKellen, who bared all in a 1974 production of “King Lear” in Brooklyn. John Simon, a critic for New York magazine, was largely unimpressed. “When I took my clothes off, he gave my penis a review,” McKellen says with a grin over Zoom. “He complimented the penis, but didn’t think my acting was all that remarkable.”

No regrets: McKellen, 85, has always had a healthy relationship to criticism. As a young man, he acted in nearly two dozen undergraduate productions while studying English literature at Cambridge University. He recalls one glowing write-up from the time, which singled him out as “a name to remember.” “That day, I decided to become a professional actor, because perhaps I was good enough to give it a go,” McKellen says. “And I haven’t regretted it ever.”

A classic British response to compliments: “I think I’ve been overpraised,” McKellen says. “If you’re playing the leading part in Shakespeare and you say the words intelligently, you probably don’t need to do much more than that.” He earned his first Oscar nod in 1999 for the elegiac “Gods and Monsters,” playing gay “Frankenstein” director James Whale. McKellen, who is also gay, calls it the proudest role of his career. “It’s a remarkable character study,” McKellen says. “When I look back at recordings of my early stage work, I’m not very impressed. It’s a great relief to me that I’ve gotten better as an actor. And I have done some good work, which will merit being viewed after I’m dead.”

The fellowship of the films: That includes “The Lord of the Rings” series, for which he earned his second Oscar nomination in 2002 playing the wise and selfless wizard Gandalf. “It’s been the great, unexpected joy of my career to have been in a film that is already a classic — my ‘Casablanca,’ as it were,” McKellen says. “It means I can go into a gathering anywhere in the world and there will be somebody who wants to talk to me because they’re fans of those movies.”

He’s so precious: McKellen is delighted to have his “own catchphrase”: “You shall not pass,” which Gandalf declares in “The Fellowship of the Ring” while saving his comrades from the fearsome Balrog. He remembers shooting the iconic showdown with director Peter Jackson and a yellow tennis ball, which would later be replaced by digital effects. “I said to Peter, ‘I’ve got the staff. I’ve got the sword. I’ve got the ball in my eyeline. What does the Balrog look like?’” McKellen recalls. “He said, ‘We have no idea yet — we’re going to create all that on a computer.’ So there was one take where I said to the tennis ball, ‘You! Shall not! Bounce!’ There was a lot of that movie I didn’t quite understand while I was filming,” he adds. “I didn’t know how everything would fit together, but Peter knew, my goodness me.”

[From USA Today]

Stop it, Sir Ian! (Don’t stop.) I did not think I could love the man more, and then he goes and gives us, “You shall not BOUNCE!” Apparently he shared this gem at a live event in 2010, but it’s new to me and I audibly guffawed when I read it at work. And I have no doubt that that tennis ball never bounced again! Here’s hoping that the completion of the LOTR: The Hunt for Gollum script aligns with Sir Ian’s full recovery so our favorite wizard can face off with tennis balls once again. As for his new film The Critic… well, the critics on Rotten Tomatoes haven’t been so kind. But it’s written by Patrick Marber (Closer, Notes on a Scandal) and the cast is stacked — Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, and Lesley Manville!! (Sidenote: I love how Lesley is 68 and her career is on FIRE.) I found the trailer compelling — it starts off with barbs and banter, and then gets serious and you remember, “oh yeah, 1930s means Nazis.” So I’ll give The Critic a shot. And judging from Sir Ian’s comments, some bad reviews aren’t bothering him; the benefit of having a critic appraise your wizard’s staff early in your career.

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