Ian Mckellen Quotes

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Ian Mckellen

Profession : Actor

Birth : May 25, 1939

There have been many gay knights in the past - like Sir Noel Coward or Sir John Gielgud.

Ian Mckellen

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

I had never come across the 'X-Men' comics till I was asked to play Magneto, so I just jumped into that job.

Ian Mckellen

I have little routines in the theater. Once I've established something, like the order of putting on makeup and a costume, I have to invariably do it in the same order every time, even if I only did it by chance the first time round.

Ian Mckellen

I get pretty grumpy about TV.

Ian Mckellen

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

In Singapore, Malcolm X type of activity would be extremely difficult because the government can be very harsh on lawbreakers.

Ian Mckellen

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

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

The most likely explanation is the most practical. '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

I think I've become more modest as the years have gone on.

Ian Mckellen

The one thing you can ask, I think, is that actors get paid a living wage. I would like it if all the repertory theatres that currently exist could do that. It would make a huge difference.

Ian Mckellen

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.

Ian Mckellen

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 to leave those other battles to somebody else.

Ian Mckellen

When I came out, I told my stepmother Gladys, and she just said she had known for years and was glad I wasn't lying anymore.

Ian Mckellen

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

My ambition is to get better as an actor.

Ian Mckellen

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

Before I ever acted as an amateur - which I did a great deal at school and at university - I used to go to the theater with my parents in the north of England, where I was born and brought up... Theater of all sorts.

Ian Mckellen

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

Ian Mckellen