Overview

• McKellen appeared via a pre-recorded greeting at the Sept. 7 screening at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre, saying, “Better safe than sorry.”
• He offered no additional details about his current condition in the message.
• Co-stars Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning and James Corden attended the premiere and praised McKellen during festival interviews.
• The decision follows his June 2024 fall during Player Kings in London, which led to a three-day hospitalization and injuries including a chipped vertebra and a fractured wrist.
• The Christophers is a Steven Soderbergh-directed black comedy with McKellen playing painter Julian Sklar.