You might be surprised by how interested young people are in older people. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
You put anyone in the outfit, and they look like Gandalf. Not that clever. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
It is really, really wonderful that in your old age you are protected by specialists who understand your problems and sort them… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Why do you act? You act for an audience. In the theatre, you're in their presence. Film stars don't know what it… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
The conventional wisdom is that if you are gay, you cannot play the romantic straight lead in a movie. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
In the '50s and '60s, the life of a gay man was a secret. Homosexuality was illegal, so you didn't draw attention… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I think with Shakespeare you can be required to do absolutely anything at the turn of a sixpence - suddenly you go… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I remember Tom Stoppard saying to me when I came out, 'I feel so sorry for you, because you'll never have children.'… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I always walk up the escalator on the Tube, and I live in a house with a lot of stairs, and that's… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Imagine trying to be a gay actor, a gay anything in modern Russia? Where to be positively oneself, to be affectionate in… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
One school invited me down, as two pupils had come out, and the headmaster didn't know what to do about it. I… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
You see people in Hollywood trying to make blockbuster after blockbuster, but it's not possible. There's some god up there saying, 'You… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Establishing the rights for gay people to be married would cost the Australian government nothing financially and would gain for you worldwide… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I came rather late to film. I've done an awful lot of theater before - before I discovered the camera, you know,… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
We're very lucky, men, that there are these fabulous parts. Women - once you've done all the parts in Shakespeare, they start… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
If you've been in a film that's seen by millions and millions and millions of people, you're more likely to be recognized… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
There are people who've enjoyed my work in the theater, and they let me know that it was special for them. I'm… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Very, very rare that you do a job knowing that the audience is desperate for you to do that job. Most films… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
What's upsetting about an autobiography is that the final chapter is always missing. I mean, you want the death, don't you? — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
If you get criticized, good - I don't think people get criticized enough. People talk behind your back and they criticize you,… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Some relationships get easier as you get older, depending on what sort of person you are. I don't think I've got any… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
People who are truly horrible are often the most interesting people in the room. You look at them and just say, 'Why?' — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Splendid architecture, the love of your life, an old friend... they can all go drifting by unseen if you're not careful. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I used to comfort myself when I became an actor that it was a useful job, entertaining people. And it was important… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
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. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
The huge difference in my lifetime is that you can just go up to somebody and make a pass. You couldn't do… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I am lucky, I don't have aches and pains. I do Pilates regularly, which is a series of stretching exercises, and I… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
So it's joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
I just followed my parents' example and advice on living, which was to leave the world a better place than you found… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
There are some tremendous actors in the U.K. who have been knighted, and I've spent much of my life admiring many of… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
Theatre is relatively easy if you're British - you're living in the theatre capital of the world, London - there are so… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
The most likely explanation is the most practical. 'Macbeth' is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
When you grumble about a taxi being dirty, people your own age will absolutely agree with you, whereas younger people say, 'You… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
The one thing you can ask, I think, is that actors get paid a living wage. I would like it if all… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share Image
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
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'.… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
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… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
Until I came out, my acting was all about disguise, and thereafter it became about telling the truth. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much. — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people… — Ian Mckellen Copy Share
