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Ben Coyles was out and about celebrating his 22nd birthday with a pub crawl in Bristol, England dressed as Gandalf from Lord of the Rings when he got the surprise of a lifetime—an encounter with the OG wizard himself, Sir Ian McKellen.
Coyles and his friends were walking along around midnight and turned on to Corn Street where they discovered McKellen.
Coyles' friend shared they were nearly done with their pub crawl when the stars aligned and the magic happened.
"We had no idea he would be there."
"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."
"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."
"So I shout out to Ben so that he could have a chance to talk with him and get some pictures together."
Another friend, Scarlet, said they were aware McKellen had some events around town, but had no idea he would be in the vicinity at that time and certainly didn't imagine they'd "bump into him."
You can watch the incredible moment below.
Coyles himself shared his disbelief.
"So it was really bizarre. It was my 22nd birthday, and we were on a pub crawl."
"Me and all my mates were walking down the street and I heard behind me, 'Do you want to meet the real Gandalf?'
"I didn't recognize him immediately then I was like 'OH MY GOD IT'S SIR IAN MCKELLEN!'"
"Everybody said, 'What on earth is going on?!"
Viewers of the video were equally as dumbfounded by the chance encounter.
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
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@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
@.scarletlearmonth/TikTok
Coyles also revealed McKellen was wonderfully polite, even in the face of Coyles' obvious bewilderment.
"He asked me how old I was and said, 'Happy birthday,' and shook my hand."
"I was flabbergasted. I had no idea what to do or say."
"We had zero idea that he was walking down that street."
"If I was 10-20 meters ahead of him, it wouldn't have happened - the planets aligned."
The birthday boy finished:
"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."