Ian McKellen releases journal entries he wrote during 'Lord of the Rings' shoot

Veteran actor Ian McKellen has shared his diary entries from the time he worked on Peter Jackson's fan favourite "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, giving a closer look to the fans at the making of the film series.

Based on JRR Tolkein's books, the movie franchise spawned into "The Fellowship of the Ring" (2001), "The Two Towers" (2002) and "The Return of the King" (2003), and a trilogy of prequels based on the author's children book "The Hobbit".

McKellen, who played Gandalf the Grey in the films, tweeted a link to his journal entries on Friday from over two decades ago.

"20 years ago, I arrived New Zealand to begin filming 'The Lord of the Rings'. I joined the cast on January 10, 2000. During that time, I kept a journal, which today would be called a blog. Perhaps you'll enjoy reading about those heady times," the 80-year-old actor wrote.

McKellen's journals date back to the time of his casting in August of 1999 and continue on through his travels to New Zealand - where the films were shot - pre-production, filming, and premieres of all the films in the 'LOTR' trilogy.

"While filming 'The Lord of the Rings', I began recording my impressions in The Grey Book named for Gandalf the Grey, the wizard who leads the Fellowship of The Ring in its fight against Sauron, the Lord of the Rings.

"This was one of the earliest blogs, launched before the term came into widespread use. Originally posted like a blog, with the newest entries at top, in 2010 the entries on this page were rearranged into chronological order from 20 August 1999 to 14 December 2001. After 2001, I began an additional volume of entries called The White Book," McKellen wrote.

The veteran stage-film actor covers a range of topics like trying on the Gandalf costume and beard for the first time, working with his cast mates and his scheduling conflicts with the X-Men franchise -- he also played another popular character, mutant Magneto/ Eric Lensherr.

Fans and followers can read his diary entries on McKellen.com.