Ian McKellen impersonating Maggie Smith is going to be all you need to get through today
Happy Saturday to you! This video of Ian McKellen impersonating Maggie Smith is just what you need to get through your weekend. Trust us.
On Friday, Sir Ian McKellen appeared on the Graham Norton Show to promote his new film Beauty and the Beast. Yes, get excited, because McKellen voices Cogsworth in the live-action version of the Disney classic!
McKellen sat alongside friends Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart (aka his BFF), who were there to talk about Logan. During the show, McKellen recalled a past Oscar story. Graham Norton asked him to talk about the time he was nominated for the Lord of the Rings. The tale included a hilarious impersonation of Smith.
It’s like watching Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings impersonate the Dowager Countess from Downton Abbey.
It’s comedy gold.
Norton kicked off the conversation by asking McKellen to describe that night and the green beads he wore.
McKellen told the host:
“Well, they weren’t beads. In New Zealand, where we filmed Lord of the Rings, if you’re lucky, when you leave, you’re given a piece of green stone, carved. And you wear it often enough and your chances are you’ll get back to New Zealand, that’s the idea. And it’ll bring you a bit of luck. When those films were nominated for something like 20 Oscars, on that night, everybody from New Zealand was wearing those green stones. Pounamu, they are called.”
As he walked the red carpet, he ran into Maggie Smith.
While describing the encounter, he switched back and forth into her voice. “‘You know, what are you here for?'” McKellen said, doing a Smith face and accent.
“I said, well, Lord of the Rings. Oh yes,” he continued. “She said, ‘What’s that around your neck?’ It’s my pounamu, Maggie. ‘Oh, your pounamu, what’s that for?’ Well, If I wear it, it will bring me luck. ‘Oh, fair enough.'”
As the night went on, McKellen didn’t win.
Furthermore, as if that wasn’t enough of a letdown, he again saw Smith, who rubbed it in.
“And we went our separate ways — and you know, it lasts three and a half or four hours. And at the end, of course, everyone else wins the Oscar apart from you. A bit dejected, you’re coming out, looking forward to a drink, and you bump into Maggie Smith and she points at you and says, ‘Didn’t work, did it?'”
Everyone in the audience and on the couch laughed, and we can’t stop laughing either. Can’t you just see the Dowager being sassy and calling someone out for their good luck charm not working?
Now that we’ve heard this hilarious story, we are in serious need of a movie starring McKellen and Smith. It would be SO good.
