From wharf.co.uk: He’s been seen in Shakespeare, The Simpsons and the Shire – but now Sir Ian McKellen is branching out into garage music. The venerable actor recorded a Shakespearean sonnet onto a beat created by members of the Limehouse Youth Club. He was invited to the Limehouse Causeway club to launch an open art competition in association with the Narrow Street Fete. He said: “What they did there was great. Shakespeare is all based on beat, rhythm and rhyme, and all those things that rappers deal with.”

Having completed a sell-out run as King Lear, he’s returning to the role of Gandalf in JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, directed by Guillermo Del Toro. It is set to hit cinemas in 2010. He said: “People are always telling me how much they loved the films. “Fortunately Tolkien wrote another book and Gandalf is in it. I’m delighted.” Thanks to message board member diedye for finding the story. Read More

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