Traffic jams have defeated the best of us… and it’s no exception for Shakespearean veteran Sir Ian McKellen.
The 84-year-old actor has had to take drastic and swift action to ensure he crosses London in time for his daily stage performance – riding on the back of a motorbike.
Sir Ian currently stars as Shakespeare’s lovable rogue Falstaff in The Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theater in the West End, a new adaptation of parts one and two of Henry IV.
Sir Ian McKellen appears on the back of a motorcycle as he heads to his daily stage performance.
Sir Ian currently stars as Shakespeare’s lovable rogue Falstaff in The Player Kings at the Noel Coward Theater in the West End.
But the actor lives seven miles from the theater in a house next to the Thames in the historic Limehouse area of the East End.
A source said: “Sir Ian tried to be picked up by a car provided by theater bosses but it took so long to get across town it was useless.”
‘One night it took him 90 minutes to get there from his house. After that, it was decided that the motorcycle was the only option.
After its London run, Sir Ian, whose film credits include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, will take The Player Kings to Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle – but probably not by motorcycle.