Ricky Gervais, star of the British comedy The Office, has a relatively new comedy series on HBO called Extras. Ricky plays Andy Millman on the series who is, you guessed it, a movie extra. Each episode features a famous actor/actress that play themselves on the movie set that Ricky/Andy is an extra on. Guest stars have included Kate Winslet, David Bowie, Ben Stiller, and Orlando Bloom.

All of those episodes were funny but they can’t compare to the episode featuring Sir Ian McKellen. For those who don’t know him, Sir Ian is a Shakespearean trained actor who’s most popular role was playing Gandalf the Wizard in Lord of the Rings. He’s good at his craft, very, very, very good. Don’t believe me? He was knighted by the Queen of England for acting, hence the “Sir”.

Anyway, in this episode Sir Ian is playing(as himself) the director of a play that Ricky/Andy is auditioning for. Sir Ian, an extremely serious actor mind you, explains his “method” to Ricky/Andy at the audition and hilarity ensues.

Sir Ian McKellen on Extras (YouTube, 2:41)

I’ve watched that scene a half dozen times and it still cracks me up. Absolutely brilliant!

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