Sean Connery offered the part of Gandalf

The British actor Sean Connery told a journalist in Prague that he had been offered the part of Gandalf in the LotR films, but turned it down because he didn’t understand the story with the hobbits, elves and other characters.

He said that he hadn’t seen the film yet, but he was sure McKellen “would make a better Gandalf than me because he has probably not only read the books, but also understood them!”.

Please excuse my slightly dodgy German translation – if anyone can do a better job, the orginal article is here.