The Lord Of The Rings star tells how he was asked to autograph a cheeky female fan’s breasts on a recent night out in New Zealand where he is filming The Hobbit.

He recalls: “It’s always a surprise when the clean-shaven, short-haired me is identified as the hirsute Gandalf. In a downtown Wellington bar the cast were having a drink at the end of a week’s intensive filming.

“It was a dark place but a young woman celebrating her 21st birthday asked for my autograph. ‘Where do you want it?’ ‘On my boobs please.’ I declined but signed her wrist.”