Sir Ian McKellen feels "lucky" to portray Gandalf.
The veteran actor has portrayed the wizard in both the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Hobbit’ movie series and thinks it is rare for such an interesting part to come along that is not a villain.
He said: "I love Gandalf. Aren’t I lucky?
"The best parts are usually the villains but not this.
"Gandalf’s a good guy and it’s a good part. He says the right things, he believes the right things. An actor can have fun with it."
Ian believes if the fantasy tales – which are based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s 1930s novels – were presented to studios as new now they would never go into production because they are so much "of their time".
He said: "There’s lots of Tolkein that must be confusing to people. Where are the women? Have you noticed that all the main characters smoke?
"If you’d written this story from scratch, there’s no way a studio would have allowed it. They are of their time.
"But they are about the end of the world, when cultures clash and changes occur, and about something as important as the world wars.
"I think that might be why they endure. Of course, they’re extremely well written. Tolkein is as good as Dickens at sketching a scene."
Ian McKellen adores Gandalf role
