Hugh Jackman Leads Massive Group Sing-a-Long Wishing X-Men Co-Star Ian McKellen a Happy 80th Birthday

Despite playing mortal enemies on the big screen for a number of years, Hugh Jackman and Ian [...]

By Charlie Ridgely

Despite playing mortal enemies on the big screen for a number of years, Hugh Jackman and Ian McKellen couldn't be better friends. The two X-Men stars, who appeared in five films together over the course of the long-running franchise, have clearly remained close to one another, even though it's been a while since they've shared the screen. On Friday, McKellen turned 80 years old, and Jackman was sure to give him the biggest round of "Happy Birthday" the actor has ever heard.

Friday afternoon, Jackman posted a video on his Twitter account from the stage of his currently-running one man show. After briefly apologizing for not being able to make it back for McKellen's party, Jackman turns around to show the crowd and motions for the music to start. Then, the massive crowd attending the show all sings "Happy Birthday" at once.

"Happy 80th Sir Ian McKellen," Jackman wrote in the tweet. "And many more!" You can watch the full video below.

Both Jackman and McKellen starred in the original X-Men movie back in 2000, along with Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Kelsey Grammer, Famke Janssen, Ann Paquin, and James Marsden. McKellen played the role of the film's villain, Magneto, while Jackman was the rough-and-tumble loner-turned-hero, Wolverine. The duo went on to appear in all three films in the initial X-Men trilogy, as well as The Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past. The latter was released in 2014 and it was McKellen's final time playing Magneto. Jackman and Patrick Stewart went on to appear in 2017's Logan, one of the most celebrated films in the franchise, which acted as a swan song for both of them.

The latest X-Men movie, and the last in the established continuity of the franchise, is the Simon Kinberg-directed Dark Phoenix, which hits theaters next month. None of the original X-Men actors will be in the film, as it focuses on the younger versions of the characters, played by the new generation of stars introduced in X-Men: First Class.

They may be done with X-Men, but it would certainly be nice to see Jackman and McKellen on screen together sometime in the near future.

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