Pardon the Inaccuracy
Matthew Bass

Well, over the past 24 hours I have received lots of e-mails from irate fans. Basically, they're telling me that McKellen confirmed that neither himself nor Christopher Lee is on the wheel, but that doesn't rule out a fake body or a stunt double. Michael Martinez himself actually took time out of his busy day to remind me of this fact, and also to mention that the wizard on the wheel is "most likely (judging by the length of the beard and the fact that Saruman buys the farm and the fact that the picture was taken on the Isengard set) Saruman, portrayed by Lee's body or stunt double." So there. The word is out.