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Ian McKellen Turned Down $1.5 Million To Officiate Wedding As Gandalf

Sir Ian McKellen refused to be the Lord of the wedding rings…

According to the Daily Mail, the 77-year-old ‘Lord of the Rings’ actor turned down the chance to officiate a wedding as Gandalf… despite a $1.5 million paycheck.

“I was offered one-and-a-half million dollars to marry a very famous couple in California,” he said, “which I would perhaps have considered doing but I had to go dressed as Gandalf.”

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“I said, ‘I am sorry, Gandalf doesn’t do weddings’.”

Of course, Sir Ian McKellen is no stranger to officiating weddings – he qualified as a ‘celebrant’ back in 2013 in order to conduct the civil wedding of his long-time pal, Sir Patrick Stewart, and fiancée Sunny Ozell.

But Facebook billionaire Sean Parker asked a little too much.

“The Mail on Sunday has learned that the offer was made via an intermediary on behalf of Silicon Valley tycoon Sean Parker, co-founder of the record-streaming service Napster and the first president of Facebook.”

And it would have been the talking point of his Tolkien-themed wedding.

The 36-year-old Silicon Valley Tycoon – with an estimated worth of $1.8 billion – spent a whopping $7.5 million in 2013 on his Tolkien-themed wedding, which saw him marry singer Alexandra Lenas.

The lavish wedding saw guests dressing up as fantasy characters in costumes created by ‘Lord of the Rings’ costume designer, Ngila Dickinson. The wedding banquet included suckling pigs atop tables which were draped in fur.

But Sir Ian McKellen wouldn’t be swayed.

“He was a very rich man,” he explained. “That’s all I know.”

Speaking to crowds outside the Newcastle Theatre Royal, he added: “I don’t go dressing up – except in plays and things at places like this.”

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Picture Credit: New Line Cinema