Queen Elizabeth II was known for keeping her opinions private, except when it came to her love for horse racing. However, a famous British actor once revealed that he found her “very rude” during their conversation and felt she didn’t respect his acting career.
Sir Ian McKellen had to cut short his theater tour after falling off the stage in London’s West End in June. In an interview with The Times of London, he shared a story about the time the Queen gave him a medal.
McKellen shared with The Times that the Queen once told him, “You’ve been at this for quite a long time.” He replied, “Well, not as long as you have.”
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She then asked, “Do people still even go to the theater these days?”
This weekend, McKellen said, “It’s really rude to say that while giving someone an acting award. It felt like she meant, ‘Does anyone even care about you? Because I don’t. Now off you go!’”
The 85-year-old actor said he feels sorry for the British Royal Family, saying, “I’ve been in the public eye a bit, but they’re like prisoners. They can’t do anything normal. Imagine having to be polite to everyone you meet.”
He recently shared that he was asked to play Gandalf again in Andy Serkis’s new Lord of the Rings movies. Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson’s famous series, is leading the project.
In June, he worried many people when he tripped over an overturned chair and fell off the stage during his performance of Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre. He broke his wrist and a vertebra, which made him cancel the rest of the tour.
Source: Deadline