Sir Ian McKellen Wants To Play Gandalf in Amazon's LORD OF THE RINGS Series!
There are a lot of thoughts that raced through my mind when I learned that Amazon Studios was going to produce a series based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson did such a perfect job telling that story with his epic film trilogy. The casting was also perfect!
Now there's one actor from the original cast that is interested in coming back to reprise his role in the series and that actor is Ian McKellen! He is completely open to the idea of playing Gandalf again if someone actually asks him.
The actor recently appeared on Graham Norton’s BBC Radio 2 show over the weekend and was asked if it would annoy him to have another actor take on the role of Gandalf and McKellen amusingly replied:
“What do you mean, another Gandalf?”
He then went on to say:
“I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7000 years old, so I’m not too old.”
I love that answer and I love that McKellen is interested in playing the character again! Will Amazon Studios ask him to come back? I'd say probably not. I imagine that they will want to distance themselves from the films Jackson has already made.
Amazon is producing the series alongside the Tolkien Estate and Trust, publisher HarperCollins and Warner Bros. Entertainment's New Line Cinema. Here's a little description that teases what the series will entail:
Set in Middle Earth, the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal includes a potential additional spin-off series.
It would be pretty rad to see McKellen back as Gandalf in an early adventure before the events of The Fellowship of the Rings. It's really hard to imagine anyone else in this role. If McKellen doesn't end up playing Gandalf in the series, who do you think would be a good choice?
Via: EW
