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A quarter century after The Lord of the Rings first aired in cinemas, the ties of friendship still bond the lucky members of The Fellowship of the Ring. But just like any adult friendship, it can be hard to make sure that you're seeing each other regularly, and it's even possible that some of those friends, love them though you do, can feel a little left out.

At least, that's the case for Gandalf himself, Ian McKellen.

The topic came up during an interview between Mithrandir himself and his erstwhile Shirefolk companions - that is Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Moynahan. Speaking to Empire Magazine to mark 25 years of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, McKellen responded to a question his interviewer asked about how often the costars saw each other.

"When we finished doing The Lord Of The Rings," the Magneto star began, "Everyone was so friendly and bonded together that we agreed that wherever we happened to be in the world, we would all congregate in the same place just to renew our friendship and our fellowship and our fraternity."

Aw, we love to hear that!

"And I haven’t been to a single one of these reunions in 25 years!" McKellen continued, "Whether they’ve been taking place without my knowing, well, you’ll have to ask them…"

Ah, dang.

"Never, Ian. Never!" interjected Dominic Moynahan, probably feeling the same fear he did after the firework incident, "The four Hobbits are very lucky because we all go to conventions together, so I think we see each other at least eight times a year. With Ian it’s a little harder, but we do try our best."

"I think it’s that fact that all of us want to get together that keeps the spirit alive," agreed Sean Astin, "It’s not as though the Fellowship has utterly failed or dissolved in some way. We just can’t fucking figure it out!"

We sympathize, Samwise, but you'd better figure it out soon. After al, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is scheduled for release December 17, 2027.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:

• Lord of the Rings reading guide 
• Lord of the Rings watch guide
• The Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch 
• The OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat 
• The true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.