Sir Ian McKellen says he won’t return to the stage for another year after fall

Sir Ian McKellen has revealed when he plans to return to the stage after suffering a nasty fall earlier this year. Photo / Alan Chapman / Dave Benett / WireImage

Sir Ian McKellen says he won’t return to the stage “for another year” after suffering a nasty fall in June.

The 85-year-old is still recovering after tumbling from the stage during a performance of Player Kings at London’s Noël Coward Theatre - and the legendary actor won’t be rushing his return.

Asked how he’ll know when the time is right to get back to the stage, he told Simon Mayo on the Greatest Hits Radio Drivetime Show: “That’s a good point – I think I’ll know because the contract says I have to turn up at a particular time!

“I’m not proposing to work on stage for another year and I think by then, this will all be all right.”

Sir Ian says he is still recovering from the "mental disturbance" he suffered during the fall. Photo / Dave Benett / Getty Images for The Wolseley Hospitality Group

The Lord of the Rings icon admitted the focus of his recovery is overcoming the “mental disturbance” he suffered from the fall, rather than the physical injuries.

Sir Ian had been wearing a fat suit when his foot got caught in a chair during a battle scene, and as he shook it loose, he slipped on a newspaper scattered on the stage.

He suffered a chipped vertebra and a fractured wrist, but he thought his injuries were far worse in the moment.

“What I’ve been left with is not so much a physical injury, but a mental disturbance because I thought it was much more serious at the time that it was,” he explained.

“I think I thought I was about to die; I thought I’d broken my neck. I’d forgotten, but apparently I’d said, ‘I’ve broken my neck, I am dying’ and if I said it, I must have thought that I was.

“And I’ve just got to deal with that. I’m not dying, not just yet - and I hope I’ll get back to acting again on stage.”

The 85-year-old recently opened up about the fall, which saw him land on a member of the audience in the front row.

Chuckling, he told ITV’s This Morning: “I don’t remember exactly what happened.

“I finally found out who she was, and so I’ve been in contact with her. But I hope she’s all right!”