Ian McKellen Says Fat Suit 'Saved' Him From Severe Injury In PLAYER KINGS Fall

Sir Ian McKellen who recently suffered a fall off stage during a performance of Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theatre in London, is speaking out about his recovery. 

During a June performance, the 85-year old actor tripped off the stage and into the front row, leaving him with chipped vertabrae and a fractured wrist, injuries that have not yet healed. 

McKellen recounted the events to Saga Magazine telling the publication that the fat suit he donned to portray Falstaff acted as a buffer during the incident, sparing his ribs and other joints from severe injury from the fall. 

He said of his recovery, “I avoid going out because I’m nervous someone might bump into me, and I’ve been dealing with agonizing pain in my shoulders due to the jolt my body took. But the fat suit I wore for Falstaff saved my ribs and other joints, so I consider myself lucky.”

While McKellen is expected to recover, the incident did cause the actor to withdraw from the remainder of the play's West End run as well as its national tour.

“I’ve relived that fall countless times. It was horrible,” he told Saga, “I thought it was the end of something. It was very upsetting. The end didn’t mean my death, but it felt like the end of my participation in the play.”

He continued, “I have to keep telling myself I’m not too old to act... it was just a bloody accident. I didn’t lose consciousness, I hadn’t been dizzy, but I’ve not been able to return to the stage, and they’ve continued without me.”

The use of fat suits in media has become increasingly controversial in recent years with with body diversity activists advocating a discontinuation of the practice. Several high profile instances of the use of fat suits have arisen in recent years including in the Academy Award-winning film The Whale, the miniseries American Crime Story: Impeachment, and in the film adaptation of Matilda the Musical.