Sir Ian McKellen has skipped the Toronto Film Festival premiere of his new film The Christophers under ‘medical advice’.

The legendary Lord of the Rings actor, 86, appeared in a pre-taped introduction to the film and explained how he was advised not to fly to the Canadian city, which he last visited in 1999 when he was shooting X-Men.

‘Better safe than sorry,’ he said, per Variety, adding to the audience at the Princess of Wales Theatre: ‘If you enjoy it, will you tell your friends?’

He continued: ‘That’s partly what festivals are about, isn’t it?’

While it isn’t clear what is wrong with The Da Vinci Code actor, he was hospitalised in June last year after an on-stage fall during a performance of his play Player Kings in London left him with a chipped vertebrae and fractured wrist.

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