Sir Ian McKellen has been enjoying a "lazy" lockdown

He said: "I think I'm a rather lazy person so I find it quite easy to sleep in, read the paper, cook a meal, have a snooze, go for a walk, read a book, make a phone call, think about going to bed."

However, the 81-year-old actor has refused some film roles as he doesn't want to "die" whilst making a movie.

He added: "I've been offered a few films but I wouldn't feel safe to be making them to be honest. At 81, one is in the vulnerable age group and you just have to say, 'Am I prepared to die to make this film?'"

Ian hopes a number of "modern masterpieces" will be written during the pandemic, like William Shakespeare wrote three of his masterpieces, 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Macbeth' and 'King Lear', when London was facing the Bubonic Plague.

Speaking to ITV News, she added: "It's funny isn't it, we think we're living in extraordinary times but looking back, when Shakespeare was living in London, acting and writing plays, they shut the theatres. They had bubonic plague for a year and during that year, Shakespeare wrote three of his masterpieces, 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Macbeth' and 'King Lear', so let's hope when all this is over, there's going to be lots of modern masterpieces from writers."

Ian doesn't mind "riding in Gandalf's chariot".

Asked how he felt about being so closely linked with such huge movie roles, he said: "God Bless, Gandalf. I ride in his chariot. I remember a friend said to me, 'Do you realise when 'Lord of the Rings' comes out, your life is going to change forever?

"Didn't know what he meant, but it has. In that, I suddenly got thousands and thousands of friends that I didn't know about."