Ian McKellen | Lord of the Rings

We know that Ian McKellen was offered the role of Dumbledore after Richard Harris passed on in 2002. It would have been very magical because he also plays the role of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. He could have easily adapted to the new role as quickly as he did from being Magneto to Gandalf. Now, this raises the question of who is more powerful than the two–but that is for another article.

When filming the movies, McKellen also enlists the help of doubles. The X-Men star actually had two in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His stunt double, Basil Clapham, is his riding double, while another one plays as his scale double. Paul Randall is the one who appears when filming Hobbit scenes. So that the crew would know the real Gandalf, they asked McKellen to wear an old boot. It is an old trick, but we give it credit because it works.