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Actor Quotes by Ian Mckellen

44 Actor quotes by Ian Mckellen

All Actor quotes Ian Mckellen’s page

Ian McKellen describes himself as only an actor, not a writer or legacy‑builder, whose job is to learn lines and deliver them. He says British theatre thrives when middle‑aged actors know their craft and perform well. He adds that no actor wants to play to an empty house, because the audience completes the story.

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Actors are merely the medium through which a story happens.

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There's something wholesome about the theatre.

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My ambition is to get better as an actor.

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No actor wants to play to an empty house.

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Tony Blair is not a villain, but he's played the part very well.

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There are some fantastic parts for older actors.

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Actors don't, in fact, retire, do they? It took me a while to remember that.

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I'm an eccentric English actor, and there's a lot of us around.

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Acting is no longer about lying. It's now about revealing the truth. People are at ease with me now. Honesty is the…

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[There's] nothing special about an actor's imagination, except that he uses it a lot.

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There are a lot of actors - I'm probably one - who are most at home when they're on stage.

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The press like to talk to actors. They mustn't be surprised when actors talk back to them.

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I love musicals; I love the ballet, opera, the circus. It's all performance to me.

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I know actors who have had to turn down good roles because they just don't pay enough. It's hard.

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When I left Cambridge, I applied to regional repertory theaters in the U.K. and got accepted by one of them... And here…

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The performance is created by the director. The actor is the material. And I think that has to be true.

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There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of…

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Imagine trying to be a gay actor, a gay anything in modern Russia? Where to be positively oneself, to be affectionate in…

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What I particularly like about Broadway is the camaraderie and the friendship of other people in other shows. Everybody knows you're opening…

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I don't any longer make any quality judgement between theater and cinema. They are different experiences for the audience, and they also…

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Before I ever acted as an amateur - which I did a great deal at school and at university - I used…

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Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only…

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There are some tremendous actors in the U.K. who have been knighted, and I've spent much of my life admiring many of…

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You won't hear me talk about my politics, you won't hear me talk about my vegetarianism, you won't hear me comment on…

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I'm cheaper than Anthony Hopkins. The other actors they asked to play Gandalf wouldn't go to New Zealand on that money for…

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I'm only an actor. I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy. All I've ever done is learn the…

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Most actors are not rich - they are very poor indeed. What keeps them going is that they just love the job.

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I got better as an actor, and still I'm getting better. That's only been possible because there's always been work.

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For old actors, just remember that inside you're only 14. Acting is for kids. You poor old grown-ups, you've forgotten how to…

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Gandalf's a good guy, and it's a good part. He says the right things, he believes the right things. An actor can…

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Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're…

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On the whole, actors shout when they don't know what they're doing, trying to make an impact.

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I used to comfort myself when I became an actor that it was a useful job, entertaining people. And it was important…

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Every time you work is a challenge. There's a constant worry about it, and it's a side of acting I don't like.

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It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And…

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Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through…

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Macbeth is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out a theater, just mount a production of Macbeth.…

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'King Lear,' I've been seeing all my life. I mean, the great actors of my lifetime... to join their company, as it…

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So it's joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for…

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I can't take on all the worries of the world, you know. I can only talk about being gay and being an…

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More by Ian Mckellen

I've always longed for the theatre and acting to be popular. No actor wants to play to an empty house. We only do it…

It's my impression that I've done every job that I've been asked to do.

I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf.

Tolkien is as good as Dickens at sketching a scene.

If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's all laid…

Godot is whatever it is in life that you are waiting for: 'I'm waiting to win the lottery. I'm waiting to fall in love'.…

I'm only an actor. I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy. All I've ever done is learn the lines and…

I'd never read 'Lord of the Rings' until I was asked to play Gandalf, so I didn't really know it was a frightfully famous…

You might be surprised by how interested young people are in older people.

The strength of British theatre should be that these actors in their middle years know what they're doing and are good at it. Not…

Until I came out, my acting was all about disguise, and thereafter it became about telling the truth.

Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the…

'The Lego Movie?' I've never heard of it.

When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much.

Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people…