VETERAN acting legend Sir Ian McKellen has shared photos from behind the scenes of the Lord of the Rings.

Sir Ian starred in the trilogy from 2001-2003, picking up a best supporting actor nomination at the Oscars along the way.

He would reprise the role for The Hobbit trilogy several years later.

The photos were originally shared by a Twitter user, who captioned the tweet "Why are the behind the scenes pictures of lotr so chaotic."

The photos shared by @softlydarcy have received more than 45,000 retweets and 250,000 likes.

Sir Ian retweeted the photos, simply saying "Fun."

The photos show the Bolton actor messing around in a golf buggy with Sir Christopher Lee, as well as staring intently into the camera with out-of-place sunglasses.

Sir Ian recently received his covid vaccination, saying that he felt "euphoric" having received the jab.