Ian McKellan's everywhere these days

Acting knight Ian McKellen is somewhat bemused by the toy images of himself as Magneto in X-Men and Gandalf in Lord Of The Rings that are on shop shelves.

“To have lots of dolls made of two characters that I have played, or to find little representations of myself falling out of a cornflakes box or on a Burger King mug are not necessarily desirable things, but when they happen you just sort of hug yourself with delight,” he tells the Hollywood Reporter.

McKellen is not following reports of The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King’s record-breaking box office performance because he is convinced it has nothing to do with him.

“I have no personal financial interest in the outcome so I think it would be a masochistic act to read the box office returns,” he said.

“As we’ve been going around the world we’ve been saying to ourselves, this is all very well, with wonderful things to remember for the rest of our lives, but actually do any of us need to do this? Would it make any difference if we all just stayed at home?”