Ian McKellen Fansite
Ian McKellen Quotes
• It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality.
• Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people asked me what I wanted to be. In fact, I always used to say I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't ever believe that I was good enough to be come one.
• I don't make much distinction between being a stand-up comic and acting Shakespeare - in fact, unless you're a good comedian, you're never going to be able to play Hamlet properly.
• I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.'
• I still hope I've got a lot of life left on stage and making films.
• When you were on stage, you could be absolutely open about your emotions and indulge them and express yourself in a way that - in real life - I wasn't doing.
• 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 in relationships, and love as many people as you can in whatever way you want, and get rid of your inhibitions, and we'll all be happy.
• If you've got Mystique as your girlfriend the fun you could have in bed - I've just imagined X-Men 3 might open with me in bed with Patrick Stewart.
• I have never wanted to be typecast, one of those actors who plays a variation on a one-note theme. So just as I enjoy playing a wide variety of characters, from good to bad to ugly to cute - so I have enjoyed of late working in film and television, as well as in theatres of various sizes and shapes.
• 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 foot soldier.
• It may be my rather puritanical upbringing at odds with my inborn laziness that makes me feel guilty at the end of the day, unless I am able to point at some achievement. But this need be no more impressive than cooking a meal or going for a long walk.
• It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous.
• 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 realized I was carrying.
• Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There's more to life than you know and it's all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it.
• That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians.
• 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 ears.
• Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different.
Ian McKellen Filmography
2009 - Magneto2007 - The Golden Compass
2007 - The Colossus
2007 - Stardust
2006 - The Da Vinci Code
2006 - X-Men: The Last Stand
2006 - Flushed Away
2006 - Displaced
2005 - The Magic Roundabout
2005 - Asylum
2005 - Neverwas
2004 - Eighteen
2003 - X2
2003 - Emile
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2000 - Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man
2000 - X-Men
1998 - Gods and Monsters
1998 - Apt Pupil
1997 - Bent
1997 - Swept from the Sea
1995 - Jack and Sarah
1995 - Richard III
1995 - Restoration
1994 - I'll Do Anything
1994 - The Shadow
1994 - To Die For
1993 - Last Action Hero
1993 - The Ballad of Little Jo
1993 - Six Degrees of Separation
1989 - Scandal
1985 - Zina
1985 - Plenty
1983 - The Keep
1982 - The Scarlet Pimpernel
1981 - Priest of Love
1969 - A Touch Of Love
1969 - Alfred the Great
1969 - The Promise
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