Beaming Lily Collins posed backstage alongside Ian McKellen as the acting legend showed support for her West End debut Barcelona.

The Emily In Paris alum, 35, smiled from ear to ear next to the Lord Of The Rings icon, 85, and gushed over the ‘worthy moment’, revealing the actor had his West End debut at the same Duke Of York’s Theatre 60 years earlier.

‘THE one and only @ianmckellen came to see @barcelonatheplay tonight. He had his West End stage debut here at @dukeofyorksldn in 1964 on the very same stage that I’m now having mine. 

‘I still cannot believe it. A truly pH๏τo worthy moment I’ll never forget…,’ she finished.

In the second sH๏τ, The Hobbit star smiled cheerfully posing alongside Emily and her filmmaker husband Charlie McDowell, 41.

Lily stars as estate agent Irene with Money Heist sensation Alvaro Morte, who plays Manuel – a ‘mysterious Spanish man who dislikes Americans’.

Beaming Lily Collins, 35, posed backstage alongside Ian McKellen, 85, as the acting legend showed support amid her West End debut Barcelona

In the second sH๏τ, The Hobbit star smiled cheerfully posing alongside Emily and her filmmaker husband Charlie McDowell, 41

Lily revealed the actor had his West End debut at the Duke Of York’s Theatre 60 years earlier

The pair are spending 12 weeks starring in Bess Wohl’s West End show Barcelona at London’s Duke of York’s Theatre.

The actress and Alvaro, 49, joined Cat Deeley and Dermot O’Leary on the ITV sofa last month, where they discussed their West End debut.

Giving a rundown of the play to hosts Cat and Ben, Lily said: ‘A young woman goes to Barcelona on a bachelorette weekend and meets a Spanish man at a bar and they go home together.

‘It takes you on a wild ride with things you are not expecting. Even things that we were not expecting that we are finding out every night on stage to.’ 

Alvaro added: ‘It’s a while that they spend together in his apartment and you see how they discover things about each other and also about themselves.’

Performances began on October 21 and will run until January 11, 2025, with tickets currently available for £20 to £195. 

Speaking for all Emily In Paris fans, Cat asked if there are any plans to bring the show to London, to which Lily excitedly replied: ‘I feel like I have become the voice of the one pitching this because I would love Emily to come to London. I’m like “Just take the Eurostar!”.

‘There’s so many amazing monuments and things that she should do here.’

Lily stars as estate agent Irene with Money Heist sensation Alvaro Morte, who plays Manuel – a ‘mysterious Spanish man who dislikes Americans’ in Bess Wohl’s Barcelona 

The actress and Alvaro, 49, joined Cat Deeley and Dermot O’Leary on the IT V sofa last month, where they discussed their West End debut

Giving a rundown of the play Lily said: ‘A young woman goes to Barcelona on a bachelorette weekend and meets a Spanish man at a bar and they go home together’

Read More This Morning fans all make the same joke about Lily Collins’ VERY glamorous outfit for ITV show

Lily, who has been married to Charlie for three years, has previously revealed she’d ‘love to have a family’ with Charlie.

Talking to Harper’s Bazaar she said: ‘Of course, I’d love to have a family. So there’s the personal, the work, there’s the blending of the two… It’s always a juggle, but I want it to be – I want to be able to do all the things I enjoy. The key thing is finding out what makes sense for us’.

She also joked there were times when she forgot her now-husband Charlie was her fiancé while working together on set of 2021 Windfall.

The actress played the wife of a wealthy CEO, with the couple coming to their holiday home to discover a burglar.

Of working alongside Charlie, she said: ‘It was quite seamless because Charlie treated all the cast the same way – he’s very much an actor’s director. There were times I forgot he was my fiancé, because we had such a creative rapport.’