A man celebrating his birthday dressed as GANDALF on a Lord of the Rings pub crawl bumped into - Sir Ian McKellen.<br /><br />Tolkien super fan Ben Coyles was out marking his 22nd do when he ran into the man who played the part.<br /><br />Sir Ian plays Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.<br /><br />Ben was with a group of friends celebrating his birthday in Bristol when they turned onto Corn Street and saw the man himself.<br /><br />In disbelief, Ben managed to get a picture with his hero.<br /><br />Student Felix Spencer, 21, who filmed the moment, said: "We had no idea he would be there.<br /><br />"We were on our penultimate pub when someone comes up to me and asks me if we would like our Gandalf to meet the real Gandalf.<br /><br />"So I turn around and assume it’s going to be someone pulling my leg but when I turn round Sir Ian McKellen is right there<br /><br />"So I shout out to Ben so that he could have a chance to talk with him and get some pictures together."<br /><br />Their friend Scarlet Learmonth said: "A few of us were aware of his nearby events, but never imagined to bump into him."<br /><br />McKellen was performing at the Bristol Hippodrome on April 14th for the pantomime "Mother Goose" with comedian John Bishop.<br /><br />Ben, a music student at the University of Bristol, said: "So it was really bizarre, it was my 22nd birthday, and we were on a pub crawl.<br /><br />"Me and all my mates were walking down the street and I heard behind me 'do you want to meet the real Gandalf?'<br /><br />"I didn't recognise him immediately then I was like 'OH MY GOD IT'S SIR IAN MCKELLEN!'<br /><br />"Everybody said 'what on earth is going on?!'<br /><br />"He asked me how old I was and said happy birthday and shook my hand.<br /><br />"I was flabbergasted, I had no idea what to do or say<br /><br />"We had zero idea that he was walking down that street<br /><br />"If I was 10-20 metres ahead of him it wouldn't have happened, the planets aligned.<br /><br />"He's a really lovely sound bloke, an excellent guy, nice, down to earth and humble and I'd like to buy him a drink."<br /><br />The hilarious took place just before midnight on April 13.
