English - Actor | May 25, 1939 -
There's lots of Tolkien that must be confusing to people.
Ian Mckellen
PeopleMustConfusingLotsTolkien
In the '50s and '60s, the life of a gay man was a secret. Homosexuality was illegal, so you didn't draw attention to yourself.
LifeManYourselfAttentionYouGay
Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're gay.
RomanticBestMenYouGayYoung
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.
SaidLyingSheYearsOutJust
There have been many gay knights in the past - like Sir Noel Coward or Sir John Gielgud.
PastGayCowardIn The PastBeen
I remember Tom Stoppard saying to me when I came out, 'I feel so sorry for you, because you'll never have children.' These days I would say, 'Well, why not, Tom?'
ChildrenMeSorrySayingRemember
You might be surprised by how interested young people are in older people.
PeopleYouYoungYoung PeopleOlder
The huge difference in my lifetime is that you can just go up to somebody and make a pass. You couldn't do that in the 1950s if you were gay. There were secret handshakes, a secret language. There was nowhere you could go to be romantic outside of people's houses.
RomanticPeopleLanguageYouGayGo
Shakespeare's villains are fabulous because none of them know that they are villains. Well, sometimes they do.
KnowSometimesFabulousBecauseWell
Will I miss Gandalf? Well, I don't miss him, because people are constantly coming up to me mentioning him and talking about him, so I don't feel that I've lost contact.
PeopleMeFeelTalkingLostWill
Every time you work is a challenge. There's a constant worry about it, and it's a side of acting I don't like.
WorkTimeChallengeWorryActing
In the U.K. there is still work to be done, particularly in schools, stopping the homophobic bullies in the playground and introducing unbiased discussion on gay issues in the classroom.
WorkGayDonePlaygroundClassroom
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Ian Mckellen quotes