SIR IAN MCKELLEN is enjoying a relaxing holiday before throwing himself into filming THE HOBBIT - because it’s the first time he’s taken a break in his entire career.

The veteran actor celebrated his 70th birthday in May (09) and admits reaching the landmark age prompted him to slow down his hectic filming schedule and take some time to himself.

He says, “I’m in the middle of a holiday. I’m not working at the moment and it means I can do lovely things. It’s a change for me because, for the first 50 years of my life, I just worked and worked and worked and I didn’t feel happy unless I knew what the next job was going to be. And then I hit 70 this year and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a little bit of downtime for myself.’”

And the star has found a novel way of keeping fit and feeling youthful, adding, “Everytime I take a shower at night, I always bend down three times and try and get as low as I can between my knees. If I can do that three times, I can get up off the sofa without thinking about it!”