10 Movie Franchises That (Almost) Destroyed Their Star

6. The Hobbit - Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen is an undeniable veteran of the acting old guard, an industry mainstay with a seemingly unwavering mettle as a result of having almost six decades of acting work under his belt.

But even a performer of McKellen's caliber found himself at the end of his rope while filming Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, due to the production's increased use of green screens and CGI compared to the original Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Upon realising that he'd be shooting many of his scenes away from practical locations and without his co-stars - who would be composited into the scenes later - McKellen broke down and cried to himself.

He said, "I felt pretty miserable...and thought perhaps, has the time come for me to stop acting altogether if I can’t cope with these difficulties? It was so distressing and off-putting and difficult that I thought 'I don’t want to make this film if this is what I’m going to have to do.' It’s not what I do for a living. I act with other people, I don’t act on my own."

Thankfully McKellen got the job done and continues to act to this day, though to consider that the tech-focused nature of The Hobbit's filmmaking caused him to consider quitting the business altogether is mightily depressing.

As for Peter Jackson, he later commented that he felt bad for McKellen "being dumped in green screen land," and had the film's crew dress McKellen's on-set accommodation with Middle-earth trinkets to cheer him up.