Veteran star Ian McKellen has credited online pilates sessions for keeping him active during Covid-19 lockdown.

"On and off I've been aware that exercise is a good idea and I've done various disciplines. I've been doing Pilates online through lockdown. It just keeps me active," Mckellen said, reports aceshowbiz.com.

He added: "The trouble with a lot of people my age is that they are decrepit, not simply because they are getting older but because they are not doing enough of what they always did do -- walk, run, exercise. It's all too easy to think, 'Well, I'll have a little sleep now. It's 11 o'clock in the morning'."

Now that people are beginning to come out of lockdown, he finds himself taking on new forms of 'exercise' as he prepares for his "athletic" role of Hamlet onstage.

"Hamlet is... a fencer and rather good at it, so I am doing a few lunges," he said.

The veteran actor is returning to the famous role after an original outing in 1971.

He said: "It had never crossed my mind to play Hamlet again. I hadn't much enjoyed doing it before. Nor had many people who saw it enjoyed it, as far as I can make out. I got some sniffy reviews. I thought it was enough to look romantic and tousle my hair and rattle the speeches off and I'd get by."