Ian Mckellen Quotes

105 quotes in 1300 categories

• The thing you notice here after America is how refreshingly ordinary people look, because they haven't had their chin wrapped around the back of their…
• I often thought my gravestone would say, 'Here lies Gandalf. He came out,'
• I've had enough of being a gay icon! I've had enough of all this hard work, because, since I came out, I keep getting all…
• Macbeth is a very popular play with audiences. If you want to sell out a theater, just mount a production of Macbeth. It's a short…
• Personally, coming out was one of the most important things I've ever done, lifting from my shoulders the millstone of lies that I hadn't even…
• There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of them is that…
• When we'd suggested doing it, the Theatre Royal management had said, 'Nobody wants to see Waiting for Godot.' As it happened, every single ticket was…
• There's no sex in Middle Earth.
• It was wrongly assumed that I wished to become some sort of leader among gay activists, whereas in reality I was happier to be a…
• In the theatre, the actor is in total control. The director wasn't in the house last night, the designer wasn't there, the author's dead. It's…
• It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And even more difficult…
• If I was on a march at the moment I would be saying to everyone: Be honest with each other. Admit there are limitless possibilities…
• I tend to discourage people from calling me 'Sir Ian,' because I don't like being separated out from the rest of the population. Of course,…
• 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'. For…
• I headed out to have a breather at the stage door, dressed in my tramp costume. I had my bowler hat between my feet and…
• I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887-1976) lived and painted.
• You always think that 70 is the end of the road: 'Somebody died when they were 73; good life'. You're closer to death, and you…
• I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction.
• Why live outside the US? Do you want health care or safe food products or democracy or something? They're all overrated. Stay for the excellent…
• I can't take on all the worries of the world, you know. I can only talk about being gay and being an actor. I'll have…

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