This article was published on August 22, 2016

Ex-Facebook exec once offered Ian McKellen $1.5 million to officiate his wedding as Gandalf


Ex-Facebook exec once offered Ian McKellen $1.5 million to officiate his wedding as Gandalf

You know what’s cooler than a million dollars? Getting Gandalf to officiate your wedding.

That’s just what ex-Facebook employee and Napster creator Sean Parker tried to do. According to Ian McKellen, Parker once offered him $1.5 million to officiate his wedding. The catch? He had to be dressed as the character McKellan played in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy — Gandalf.

The request, made by a mutual friend of McKellen and Parker’s, met with deaf ears.

“I don’t go dressing up – except in plays and things at places like this,” said McKellen.

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The wedding went off without a hitch in McKellen’s absence. The star-studded affair featured the who’s-who of Silicon Valley and a few notable Hollywood faces. Each guest saw Lord of the Rings-inspired attire, banquet tables draped in fur, a petting zoo with nothing but white rabbits and, of course, an entire roasted pig for each table.

McKellen, on the other hand, is probably missing some real opportunities at Comic-Con.

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