Shooting "The Hobbit" Drove Ian McKellen to Tears

Sir Ian McKellen, the beloved 73-year-old British actor, has reprised his role as Gandalf for Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit." Unfortunately, the filming process turned out to be far less enjoyable than the first time around.

McKellen admitted to Contact Music that he broke down and cried from frustration while filming his scenes. Because of the disparity in size between his character and the rest, McKellen was forced to act with inanimate objects instead of fellow actors.

"In order to shoot the dwarves and a large Gandalf, we couldn't be in the same set. All I had for company was 13 photographs of the dwarves on top of stands with little lights - whoever's talking flashes up... Pretending you're with 13 other people when you're on your own, it stretches your technical ability to the absolute limits. I cried, actually. I cried. Then I said out loud, 'This is not why I became an actor.' Unfortunately the microphone was on and the whole studio heard,' he said.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will be the first in the Hobbit trilogy. The three films will tell the story of Bilbo's adventures that precede the events of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The first film comes out in theaters on December 14.