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My friends are my family.
Ian Mckellen -
The press like to talk to actors. They mustn't be surprised when actors talk back to them.
Ian Mckellen
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The first film role I deliberately chose to play after I came out was a raging heterosexual, John Profumo.
Ian Mckellen -
What's nice for me, having identified myself for years as being rather shy, is now, wherever I am, in public, there tends to be a friendly face who's pleased to see me, and I like that.
Ian Mckellen -
I'm the sort of person who doesn't write in ink. I only write in pencil, so it can be rubbed out.
Ian Mckellen -
We're very lucky, men, that there are these fabulous parts. Women - once you've done all the parts in Shakespeare, they start running out. So you can pick and choose and find something to energise you.
Ian Mckellen -
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 just followed my parents' example and advice on living, which was to leave the world a better place than you found it. They were professional do-gooders, ministers of the church, social workers, teachers, and missionaries, that sort of thing.
Ian Mckellen
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My own death threats have declined considerably.
Ian Mckellen -
I don't really like being with people my own age for long periods, because all we talk about is our decrepitude, how the world is changing for the worse even though it isn't.
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 -
Bill Gallagher's new version of 'The Prisoner' is an enthralling commentary on modern culture. It is witty, intelligent and disturbing. I am very excited to be involved.
Ian Mckellen -
Most actors are not rich - they are very poor indeed. What keeps them going is that they just love the job.
Ian Mckellen -
There's something wholesome about the theatre.
Ian Mckellen
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If I was a star, it would be difficult to go off and do 'Coronation Street.' So I guess I'm not a star.
Ian Mckellen -
Theatre is relatively easy if you're British - you're living in the theatre capital of the world, London - there are so many places you can work, still. If I had begun to think of myself as a film actor, I think I would have got distracted.
Ian Mckellen -
Bolton School has a great tradition in the liberal arts.
Ian Mckellen -
I've always felt that 'X-Men' was about something serious. It wasn't just fantasy.
Ian Mckellen -
It's my impression that I've done every job that I've been asked to do.
Ian Mckellen -
There are some tremendous actors in the U.K. who have been knighted, and I've spent much of my life admiring many of them, like Laurence Olivier. So it's very flattering to be in their company. But you also end up in the company of people you don't admire, including some rather dodgy politicians.
Ian Mckellen
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If we just made one movie, 'The Hobbit,' the fact is that all the fans, the eight-, nine- and 10-year-old boys, they would watch it 1,000 times. Now, they've got three films they can watch 1,000 times.
Ian Mckellen -
When I was playing Gandalf, I didn't think, 'Oh my dear, I'm playing a 7,000 year old wizard,' because I've never met one, and I don't know what they're like.
Ian Mckellen -
No actor wants to play to an empty house.
Ian Mckellen -
I think with Shakespeare you can be required to do absolutely anything at the turn of a sixpence - suddenly you go into a battle, suddenly you utter something passionate.
Ian Mckellen