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Ian McKellen Doesn't Want Anyone Else Playing Gandalf In Amazon's LOTR Series Other Than Himself


Ian McKellen made his way through many a Lord of the Rings fan for his portrayal of Gandalf in Peter Jackson's cinematic trilogy masterpiece, and with the news of Amazon making their own LOTR show, McKellen comments on the possibility of somebody else playing the Gray Pilgrim.

Speaking to the Graham Norton Show (via Digital Spy), McKellen was asked how he feels of their being another actor to play Gandalf, to which he comments:

"What do you mean, another Gandalf? 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 7,000 years old, so I'm not too old."

It's still unclear whether this show would be an expansion of Jackson's world or a full reboot, but if it is, I'm onboard to see more of McKellen as Gandalf the Gray. His performance has gotten him many prestigious honors, and it's fun to see how enthusiastic he is about playing Gandalf—despite his frustrations on the set of The Hobbit.

Personally, I think it would be exhausting to see the books rebooted as a series. The action setpieces require a budget much larger than the ones allocated for TV shows, and I wouldn't want a watered down Helm's Deep sequence that would span two one-hour episodes.

No air date has been announced for Amazon's Lord of the Rings series.

See Also: HBO Passed Up On The Chance To Work On The Lord Of The Rings TV Series

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