Ian McKellen — who has played Gandalf across six films — is open to reprising the Lord of the Rings character.

As another Lord of the Rings film nears production with The Hunt of Gollum, we are still left wondering who from Peter Jackson’s original trilogy will return. By and large, most have been open to it. But at 85 and 10 years removed from Gandalf, is Ian McKellen still seeking it, seeking it? Or is it more the fans whose thoughts are bent on it?

Speaking with the UK’s Big Issue (via Deadline), Ian McKellen said that he is aware of the upcoming film but there are too many mysteries surrounding it for him to confirm or deny. As McKellen put it, “I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him. When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”

Quick is right if Andy Serkis – who is taking over directing duties from Peter Jackson – and his team want to nab Ian McKellen for Gandalf. McKellen himself has been open to reprising the character but added a grim twist by saying, “If I’m alive.” The following week he took an unfortunate fall on stage while performing in Player Kings.

That situation caused McKellen to ponder his fate immediately. As he remembered in a separate interview, “It’s emotionally that I’ve got some residue that I’ve got to deal with. I said to myself as I tripped and slid off the stage, ‘This is the end’. These were the words in my mind, ‘This is the end. ‘And apparently I shouted out, ‘My neck is broken, I’m dying.’ I don’t remember saying that, so there was a lot going on in my head as the body responded to the fall.”

As Gandalf, Ian McKellen has been a fan favorite in the Lord of the Rings films, not only playing him in the first trilogy – earning an Oscar nomination for The Fellowship of the Ring – but also in The Hobbit films: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies.

Do you think Ian McKellen still has it in him for another go as Gandalf? How would that enhance The Hunt for Gollum?