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Tag: Gandalf

  • Ian McKellen Wasn’t Allowed To Be Himself Until Coming Out

    Ian McKellen is like an elder statesman in the gay community. Anytime some uncle at Thanksgiving makes a homophobic comment stereotyping gay people, all you have to do is point at Ian McKellen. The idea of an old, gay man throws people.

    Sir Ian McKellen is not only outspoken about his own homosexuality — in the most tasteful manner, of course — but he defends and aids others who are hushed into a corner, afraid to dare be themselves.

    In a recent interview, Ian McKellen even went so far as to say that his coming out in 1988 to his family and the media, was the start of something refreshing and better for him.

    He was 49 years years old before he took that step. Before that, McKellen says, he “wasn’t truly allowed” to be himself. In fact, he used acting as a way to “run away from real life.”

    For an actor, that is a terrible place to be. Finding truth in a part, and connecting that truth to your own personal experience, is something any actor, whether they are Method or not, calls upon at least occasionally, if not regularly.

    “I was finally allowed to be in touch with my own emotions,” says McKellen of coming out. “So acting became about telling the truth. It was a huge change.”

    Ian McKellen, who had fallen in love with acting at a young age, was finally able to connect his adult life with the fascination he felt as a boy watching actors on stage.

    “I enjoyed what I was watching so much that I wanted to see how it was done,” McKellen said of his childhood experience in theatre.

    But his coming out didn’t just affect his life as an actor.

    “My life got better in every way [after coming out,]” says McKellen. “I don’t say I became a better cook, but I became a better son, a better brother, a better uncle, and a better actor – a different actor, anyway.”

  • Patrick Stewart Wedding to be Officiated by Ian McKellen

    It’s official. Gandalf will be marrying Jean-Luc Picard. In a way.

    Sir Ian McKellen, the actor known for playing roles such as Magneto in the Bryan Singer X-Men movies and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies, has announced that he will be officiating the wedding of Sir Patrick Stewart and Stewart’s fiance, Sunny Ozell.

    Stewart is well-known for many roles, notably as Professor Charles Xavier in the Singer X-Men movies and as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

    McKellen announced his marriage responsibilities during an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show. He also stated that he has performed a marriage before, officiating the civil partnership of two men in the U.K.

    “I’m going to marry Patrick,” said McKellen, who immediately saw the problem with his wording. “But, no, well, how else do you put that? I am going to officiate, yes, at his wedding.”

    McKellen also jokingly propositioned Doctor Who actor Matt Smith, who briefly showed up during the interview. The host later plays a clip of McKellen’s first appearance on television in 1964. The marriage revelation begins at the 11-minute mark in the video below: