McKellen To Reprise Role of Gandalf
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Ian McKellen will again take up the robes of the wizard Gandalf in the cinematic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic “The Hobbit,” a British film magazine reported yesterday.
But Mr. McKellen’s publicist warned that final arrangements were yet to be made.
“Of course he wants to do it, but nothing’s been agreed or signed,” Clair Dobbs said.
Empire magazine’s Web site quoted Mr. McKellen as saying that director Guillermo del Toro told him he would again be playing the white-haired wizard.
“He confirmed that I would be reprising the role,” the magazine quoted Mr. McKellen as saying. “Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down. I loved playing Gandalf.”
The 68-year-old British actor previously told the Associated Press that he would hate to see anyone else play the role. “The Hobbit” is being produced by Peter Jackson, the director of the “Rings” movies, and is likely to be filmed in his home country of New Zealand next year.
