Ian McKellen Quotes

• You can always pick out stage actors at the Oscars: they know how to walk.

  Ian McKellen

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• I can’t be absolutely certain, 30 years ago when I made the decision to become an actor, but certainly one of the reasons was it was the way to meet other queer men.

  Ian McKellen

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• 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 better make sure you don’t waste too much of your time doing things you don’t want to do. No point in saying things you don’t believe in.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Good, Things, Better

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Real, Express

• 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 booked for every single performance, and this confirmation that our judgment was right was sweet. Audiences came to us from all over the world. It was amazing.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Suggested, Happened, Amazing

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Understand, Happening, Discover

• There’s no s*x in Middle Earth.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Middle

• 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 I’ve got better as an actor. I’ve learnt how to do it. And I still have enough energy to do it.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Things, Better, Enough, Energy

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in People, Thing, Ordinary

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Effect, Discovering, Precious

• So it’s joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for my age and my experience, and that is a popular success. What more could you ask as an actor?

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Experience, Success

  Tags in Popular, Joyful, Absolutely

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Important, Realized, Personally, Carrying

• 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 play, it’s an exciting play, it’s easy to understand, and it attracts great acting.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Understand

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in People, Responsibilities, Marriage

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Activist, Happier, Reality

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Might, Imagined

• 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.

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in People, Relationships, Happy

• I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887-1976) lived and painted.

  Ian McKellen

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  Tags in Industrial, Painted

• 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.’

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Different, Understood, Training, School

• 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, it can be useful if you’re writing an official letter, like trying to get a visa or something passed through Parliament. They’re impressed by these things.

  Ian McKellen

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Population, Impressed, Official

Ian McKellen (26)

Birth:	25th May, 1939
Nationality:	British
Profession:	Actor

About

Sir Ian Murray McKellen was born in Burnley, England. He is an English stage and screen actor. He started his professional career in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of their highly regarded repertory company. In the 1970s he became a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain. His role in several films include: The Promise, A Touch of Love, Priest of Love, Plenty, Scandal, The Shadow, Richard III(nominated- BAFTA Award for best actor), Jack and Sarah, Gods and Monsters(nominated- Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, won- Critics' Choice Movie Award for best actor), X-Men, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(nominated- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, BAFTA Award for best actor), Emile, Neverwas, Asylum, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Mr. Holmes. His role in television include: David Copperfield(TV serial), Countdown to War(TV film), King Lear(TV film), The Prisoner(miniseries), Vicious (TV series), and The Dresser(TV film, nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979. He was knighted by Elizabeth II in 1991. He has been openly gay since 1988, and continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements worldwide.

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Today's Anniversary - 18th December

Births

• 1956 - Ron Dee White
• 1954 - Ray Liotta
• 1970 - Victoria Pratt
• 1957 - Randi Weingarten
• 1886 - Ty Cobb

Deaths

• 1971 - Robert Tyre Jones Jr.
• 2008 - W. Mark Felt
• 1912 - Will Carleton
• 1892 - Richard Owen
• 2011 - Vaclav Havel