Playing mad king, wizard easy for Sir Ian McKellen

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Farewell King Lear. Hello Hobbits. An actor's life can take strange turns.

British actor Sir Ian McKellen is wrapping up the American leg of his world-wide tour as King Lear and says he won't mind returning to the Shire to reprise his role as the wizard Gandalf for a film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" if and when that happens.

Making "The Hobbit" has not been an easy task since "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson got into a legal battle with studio New Line Cinema over royalties -- a fight that may be close to being settled after a lot of name calling.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, McKellen said he was rooting for Jackson to direct "The Hobbit" but said he had the Oscar-winning director's blessing to play Gandalf one way or the other.

"When Peter announced he had withdrawn from 'The Hobbit,' he sent me an e-mail saying 'Because I am not going to do it, it doesn't mean you have to do the same. Of course, you must play Gandalf whether I direct or not'," he said.

Playing Gandalf made McKellen, one of the English-speaking world's leading actors, an international box office star. Playing a villain in the "X-Men" series also helped the 68-year-old Shakespearean actor suddenly became bankable.

Of "The Hobbit" project, he said, "I am glad to read that it is looking more and more likely. ... I would be disappointed if they didn't want to have the original Gandalf. I suppose if I am still functioning and working well, it is very likely I would be asked to do it and if I were, I would be very pleased to do it."

McKellen received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for the first of the three "Rings" films, "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first book in Tolkein's epic series "The Lord of the Rings" -- itself a sequel to "The Hobbit."

"I became more of an actor because I could play before the cameras," McKellen said. "It made for a big change in my life."

But the biggest thing right now in McKellen's life is playing Lear -- a role he long dreaded and had to be argued into doing.

"King Lear" opens on Friday in Los Angeles as part of the UCLA Live series. Advance word has been so strong that some ticket sellers are offering single tickets for up to $1,700 as compared to a regular box office top of $90.

Critics have raved about his performance in Lear and in a companion piece, Chekhov's "The Seagull," making Lear sound like a once-in-a-lifetime event.

On Lear, McKellen said, "I wasn't much looking forward to it. It is a notoriously difficult part to bring off. ... Lear in the play is 80-years-old and playing the part takes an awful lot spiritually and emotionally and mentally out of you."

In one key scene, he rips his clothing off, appearing nude to the audience.

"It was an absolutely thrilling job. I have played it now over 80 times. I am awfully glad I was persuaded to do it.