LGBT+ icon Ian McKellen still in pain after falling on stage

LGBTQIA+ icon Sir Ian McKellen has revealed he is still in severe pain two months after his fall on stage during a performance in London. The 85-year-old actor was playing Falstaff in Robert Icke’s play Player Kings at the Noël Coward Theatre when he fell during a battle scene in June.

Though he was taken to the hospital and initially reported a speedy recovery, McKellen recently shared in an interview with Saga magazine that he still deals with lingering pain and physical limitations. “I’ve relived that fall over and over again. It was horrible,” the actor said, explaining that his foot got caught in a chair and he slipped on newspapers on stage, ending up in the lap of a spectator in the front row.

McKellen described feeling ashamed at having let the production down, which had to continue without him on a UK tour. He still wears a neck brace and has his hand splinted, and avoids leaving the house for fear of further injuries. “My chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist have not fully healed yet, and I have excruciating pain in my shoulders from the impact.”

Despite the difficulties, McKellen acknowledged that he was lucky, crediting the padded suit he wore in the play for protecting his ribs and other joints from more serious injuries.

While he continues his recovery, fans of the actor will be able to see him in theaters from September 13, when the crime drama “The Critic”, directed by Anand Tucker, premieres, in which McKellen stars alongside Gemma Arterton, Lesley Manville, Mark Strong and Ben Barnes.

By Ezatamentchy