Updated Dec 18, 2020 "I feel very lucky, "The Lord of the Rings" star said. Ian McKellen was not acting when he got vaccinated against COVID-19 ― but the “Lord of the Rings” star still reached out to his audience. “It’s a very special day,” McKellen wrote Thursday on Instagram (see the post below) with a photo of him giving the thumbs-up. “Anyone who has lived as long as I have is alive because they have had previous vaccinations.” McKellen, 81, a two-time Oscar nominee who was a regular in the blockbuster “X-Men” franchise, took his shot at convincing vaccine doubters. “The take up amongst the older generation will be 100% ― it ought to be ― because you’re having it not just for yourself but for people who you are close to ― you’re doing your bit for society,” he wrote.