Video footage has captured the moment a man man celebrating his birthday dressed as Gandalf on a Lord of the Rings pub crawl bumped into Sir Ian McKellen.
Superfan Ben Coyles was enjoying his 22nd birthday with friends dressed as the character when he bumped into the very actor who played the part.
Sir Ian, from Manchester, plays Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. In disbelief, Ben managed to get a picture with his hero with a video posted TikTok.
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Ben was with a group of friends celebrating his birthday in Bristol when they turned onto Corn Street and saw the man himself. The hilarious took place just before midnight on April 13.
The music student at the University of Bristol, said: "So it was really bizarre, it was my 22nd birthday, and we were on a pub crawl. Me and all my mates were walking down the street and I heard behind me 'do you want to meet the real Gandalf?'
"I didn't recognise him immediately then I was like 'OH MY GOD IT'S SIR IAN MCKELLEN! Everybody said 'what on earth is going on?!'
"He asked me how old I was and said happy birthday and shook my hand. I was flabbergasted, I had no idea what to do or say.
"We had zero idea that he was walking down that street. If I was 10-20 metres ahead of him it wouldn't have happened, the planets aligned. He's a really lovely sound bloke, an excellent guy, nice, down to earth and humble and I'd like to buy him a drink."
Student Felix Spencer, 21, who filmed the moment, said: "We had no idea he would be there. We were on our penultimate pub when someone comes up to me and asks me if we would like our Gandalf to meet the real Gandalf.
"So I turn around and assume it’s going to be someone pulling my leg but when I turn round Sir Ian McKellen is right there So I shout out to Ben so that he could have a chance to talk with him and get some pictures together."
McKellen was performing at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 14th for the pantomime 'Mother Goose' with comedian John Bishop.
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