Ian McKellen had a ‘wake-up call’ after falling off stage, says Gemma Arterton

Ian McKellen was "shocked" after he fell from a stage in the West End earlier this year and the incident was a "wake-up call" for the acting legend, Gemma Arterton has said.

The Lord of the Rings star, 85, suffered from a chipped vertebra and fractured wrist as a result of the fall, which happened while he was performing in Player Kings in June.

Arterton, who co-starred in The Critic alongside McKellen in September, told The Times that McKellen’s fall came as such a surprise to him because he is "so young at heart".

"It was a big fall and obviously he’s an older gentleman. He’s taking time out to recover," she told the publication. "He’s such a Peter Pan. He’s so young at heart. It was a bit of a wake-up call."

Three months after the incident, McKellen told Yahoo UK that the injury was an emotional one for him and he felt "guilty" for disappointing the audience, the director and his friends as he was unable to continue with the tour.

He spoke in detail about his injuries, describing them as "not all that significant" but he added he was left with an "emotional injury" because the incident left him fearing for his life.

"[My injuries] are settling down nicely, I’m left with some aches - not pains, aches - which can be dealt with by exercise. I’m doing Pilates, I couldn’t have [lifted my arms high above my head] two months ago, so I’m just taking it slow.

"But I’ve been left with the residual, emotional injury. It seemed like it was the end of something as it was happening, I thought perhaps it was the end of life, actually it was frightening."

He also told Yahoo UK that he took advice from his longtime friend Anthony Hopkins in order to help with his recovery.

"Anthony Hopkins called me up and said, 'Don’t go back to work until you’ve really recovered'," McKellen said. "And I think that was wise advice because the recovery is not just the injury, the physical side, it’s dealing with imagining what might have happened if I hadn’t been wearing the padding, Falstaff’s fat suit."

In August, McKellen credited the fat suit for "saving" his ribs and other joints from further injury. He told Saga magazine that he considered himself "lucky" that he was wearing the fat suit at the time, but added that he "relived that fall I don’t know how many times" and that it was "horrible".

At the time of the incident, a spokesperson for the Noël Coward theatre where the play was running said McKellen was expected to make a "speedy and full recovery". McKellen was replaced by his understudy, David Semark.

Watch: Ian McKellen keeps 'reliving' his 'horrible' stage fall

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