An air of magic floated last week in the streets of Bristol, in the west of England. On the evening of April 13, shortly before midnight, the bustling streets of the city center are filled with a strange troupe. Ben Coyle, a young Brit, strolls with his friends. It’s his 22nd birthday. For the occasion, the student dressed up as Gandalf, the magician from the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. With his ample hat, his heavy dress and his abundant beard, the figure does not go unnoticed. And by serendipity, the wizard of Bristol crosses paths with a recognized expert in all things magical: Ian McKellen, the true cinematic Gandalf.
“We and my buddies were walking down the street when someone behind me exclaimed, ‘Do you want to meet the real Gandalf?'” Ben Coyle told English news agency SWNS. After a second of hesitation, I was stunned to recognize him. I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Sir Ian McKellen!’ The 83-year-old British comedian met the young man and his friends in Corn Street, not far from the Bristol Hippodrome performance hall. Ian McKellen had just come out of a performance of Mother Goose, a pantomime show in which he played a colorful Mother Goose.
Footage of the encounter, posted on TikTok by Ben Coyle’s friends, shows the two Gandalfs walking and posing alongside each other in historic Bristol. The actor, who interpreted the magician six times in the cinema, in the various adaptations of Tolkien’s stories directed by Peter Jackson, was not wearing his gray hat, but a cap – less iconic, certainly, but also less inconvenient.
“He asked me my age, wished me a happy birthday and shook my hand, detailed Ben Coyle. He is a really charming guy, an excellent person, someone cordial, humble and down to earth, humble”. The student summed up this astonishing encounter with a wish that could not be more British. “I’d like to buy him a drink one of these four!”
