Ian McKellen was forced to miss the world premiere of Steven Soderbergh’s new movie, The Christophers, at the advice of his doctors.
The black comedy, also starring James Corden, Baby Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning, and Michaela Coel, made its world debut Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
However, the 86-year-old Lord of the Rings actor was unfortunately absent from the premiere, instead appearing on the screen in a pre-taped video, revealing his “medical advisers” had discouraged him from flying.
“Better safe than sorry,” he said, according to Variety.
McKellen recalled that his last visit to the city was in 1999, when he filmed X-Men and originated the role of anti-hero Magneto — a character he will reprise in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday.
“If you enjoy it, will you tell your friends?” he implored the crowd. “That’s partly what festivals are about, isn’t it?”
The British two-time Oscar nominee did not share any further information about why he had been advised against flying.
His absence comes just over a year after he was hospitalized after falling off a stage during a June 2024 performance of Player Kings at a theater in London. He stayed in the hospital for three nights before he was released to continue his recovery at home with “physiotherapy, light exercise, and a lot of essential rest.”
Although McKellen wasn’t able to be at TIFF with his co-stars, Coel still managed to gush about working with him.
“He’s just the loveliest soul,” she said, calling him a “hero.”
“He just had an upward spirit,” the I May Destroy You star and creator praised. “I loved the idea of a character like Ian McKellen and me coming together and like loving each other.”
McKellen leads The Christophers as a curmudgeonly painter, whose estranged children (Gunning and Corden) hire a forger (Coel) to steal and complete some of his unfinished paintings so they can land a bigger inheritance.
During a Q&A after the screening, Soderbergh explained that the storyline had come from an idea he had to make a film centered on a Tom Ripley-esque character.
“I had always wanted to be doing something about a lot of mentors of mine in both writing and comedy who had given up, and we started talking, and immediately I said, ‘Oh my God, I know what this is about,’” screenwriter Ed Solomon said.
“Ed brought to it something that I thought was deeper and more fun, frankly,” Soderbergh added, “So I just encouraged him to go and take a run at it.”
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