Sir Ian McKellen has been part of the entertainment industry for decades now, portraying a great many prolific characters with finesse and charm never seen before. During his time, the actor’s talents have brought many characters to life, making them iconic and celebrated parts of popular culture today. And his Lord of the Rings character, the wizard Gandalf, certainly occupies a special place in the world of entertainment today.
LOTR Blooper Proves Sir Ian McKellen Was Miserable on the Sets of Hobbit
Sir Ian McKellen has been part of several franchises and movies, but his time in The Lord of the Rings franchise certainly holds a unique charm. Bringing the fan-favorite fantasy character, Gandalf to life, the actor did an exceptional job in portraying the mysterious wizard across the LOTR trilogy and its prequel The Hobbit trilogy.
However, his time in The Hobbit trilogy, made after the original LOTR movies, was not as merry as it might seem. The reason was the excessive use of CGI and greenscreens in the movie series, which often led to McKellen spending days apart from his co-stars, shooting in front of their cutouts surrounded by green screens. A case that was not so with the original The Lord of the Rings franchise.
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The above blooper proves just how much fun McKellen and the other actors had on the sets of the original trilogy. ‘Samwise Gamgee, have you been eavesdropping’ states McKellen as his co-star Sean Astin proceeds to explain to him, while character, that he just wanted a solo shot. While fans, in the comments, loved the blooper, most couldn’t help but take pity on the actor, who broke down while filming The Hobbit trilogy, which was a widely different experience.
Sir Ian McKellen Broke Down on the Sets of The Hobbit Trilogy
There have been rumors for a long time that Hollywood legend Sir Ian McKellen had a hard time while on the sets of the prequel trilogy. The actor later opened up in different interviews, speaking about how hard it was to portray Gandalf because of The Hobbit‘s use of excessive CGI and green screens.
While talking to Time Out, the actor stated,
I was miserable. It may be my impression but I don’t remember a greenscreen on The Lord of the Rings. If Gandalf was on top of a mountain, I’d be there on the mountain.
Things got so weary that once the actor even broke down while filming another scene, as he stated in another interview with Contact Music.
Pretending you’re with 13 other people when you’re on your own, it stretches your technical ability to the absolute limits. I cried, actually. I cried. Then I said out loud, ‘This is not why I became an actor’. Unfortunately, the microphone was on and the whole studio heard.
Even Peter Jackson, in the DVD commentary of the movies, felt sorrowful for the veteran star. And so, despite the challenging and excruciating times, Ian McKellen gave yet another legendary performance as Gandalf.
The Lord of the Rings movies can be streamed on Max, while The Hobbit trilogy is available on Hulu.
