WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.520 If you ask me to name a single artist who really 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.240 defines adaptability, someone who has managed 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:09.480 to bridge that massive gap between, you know, 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:11.619 the absolute peak of classical British theater. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:13.599 The Royal Shakespeare Company, the West End. 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:16.239 Exactly. All of that. And then on the other side, 00:00:16.300 --> 00:00:20.359 these huge global fantasy blockbusters that really 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.420 define cinema today. There's only one name that 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:25.640 comes to mind. It's the ultimate paradox, isn't 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:29.320 it? A figure who can give this just devastatingly 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.839 nuanced performance of King Lear for a few hundred 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:34.320 people in a theater. Right. And then turn around 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:37.039 and command armies of orcs and mutants for hundreds 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.020 of millions of people all over the world. We 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:41.020 are, of course, talking about Sir Ian Murray 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.859 McKellen. A true British cultural icon. I mean, 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.320 the knighthood in 1991 really cemented that, 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:48.039 but he was already there, really. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:50.859 Okay, so let's unpack this. We've done a huge 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:54.439 amount of work here compiling, well, a colossal 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:57.159 stack of sources, biographical material that 00:00:57.159 --> 00:00:59.659 details the entire arc of his life, his career, 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.460 which spans decades, that dizzying list of awards, 00:01:02.659 --> 00:01:05.120 and this is crucial, his incredibly influential 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.989 activism. And our mission for this deep dive 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:10.769 is to really get under the hood of that adaptability, 00:01:11.030 --> 00:01:13.670 that that intellectual curiosity. We want to 00:01:13.670 --> 00:01:15.489 find the through lines, the connections that 00:01:15.489 --> 00:01:17.390 maybe aren't so obvious. The surprising ones. 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:19.310 The surprising ones. Yeah. The ones that connect 00:01:19.310 --> 00:01:22.530 the stage veteran who was, you know, deep in 00:01:22.530 --> 00:01:24.989 Elizabethan text with the activist who co -founded 00:01:24.989 --> 00:01:28.030 Stonewall and the global superstar that we all 00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:31.329 know as Gandalf. For Magneto. And what hits you 00:01:31.329 --> 00:01:33.209 right away, I mean, the core takeaway, before 00:01:33.209 --> 00:01:35.290 we even get into the weeds, is just the sheer 00:01:35.290 --> 00:01:37.469 longevity and the breadth of this career. It's 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:39.790 unbelievable. The man has been professionally 00:01:39.790 --> 00:01:43.030 active from 1958 right up to today. And he's 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:45.349 not just, you know, been active. He's been dominating. 00:01:45.430 --> 00:01:48.150 You look at the awards, the hardware, and this 00:01:48.150 --> 00:01:50.549 tells a story of consistent critical acclaim 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:53.010 across every single medium. He's got the triple 00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:55.189 crown of British Theatre Six Olivier Awards. 00:01:55.670 --> 00:01:59.000 Six. Plus a Tony for his work on Broadway. then 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:01.239 a Golden Globe and nominations for two Academy 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:05.099 Awards, five BAFTAs, five Emmys. It's just, it's 00:02:05.099 --> 00:02:07.799 staggering. It means he has maintained this creative 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:10.379 vitality and relevance for more than six decades. 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:12.960 That is, that's a monumental feat. It really 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.639 is. So you have to ask, where does that all begin? 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.300 That's the question. And to answer it, we have 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:20.520 to start at the very beginning. Yeah. We have 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.520 to go back to wartime Britain. Ian McKellen was 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.539 born in Burnley, Lancashire, in May of 1939. 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:30.099 And that timing is just, it's so significant 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:32.300 because that's four months before the Second 00:02:32.300 --> 00:02:34.800 World War officially begins in September. Right. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:36.960 And you can see the immediate impact of that 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.060 in the sources. His family had to relocate to 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:41.340 Wigan pretty much right away because of the war. 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:44.560 And that experience, growing up during the Blitz, 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:46.819 living in this environment that's just saturated 00:02:46.819 --> 00:02:50.039 with threat. it leaves a psychological mark. 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:52.539 You can see it reflected in his composure decades 00:02:52.539 --> 00:02:54.740 later. Yeah, you hear a lot of people talk about 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:57.500 their childhoods, but his wasn't defined by normal 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.439 life. It was defined by anxiety and danger. He 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.159 said it himself. He noted that it was only after 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.139 peace was declared that he even realized that 00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.759 living through a war wasn't the norm for humanity. 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:10.319 And that resilience, that kind of deep stoicism, 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:13.919 it really comes to the surface in this powerful 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:17.580 anecdote about the 9 -11 attacks. Right. In 2001, 00:03:18.270 --> 00:03:20.689 When everyone around him was in chaos, panicking, 00:03:20.830 --> 00:03:24.090 he was remarkably calm. And his explanation for 00:03:24.090 --> 00:03:27.969 it, it just sums up his entire childhood. He 00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:30.330 apparently said, well, darling, you forget. I 00:03:30.330 --> 00:03:32.469 flipped under a steel plate until I was four 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:35.039 years old. Wow. I mean, it just tells you everything, 00:03:35.219 --> 00:03:37.000 doesn't it? Yeah. If you can survive the Blitz 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.139 as a toddler, you can probably navigate just 00:03:39.139 --> 00:03:41.039 about anything. It gives him this sort of this 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:43.340 psychological toughness that you see later in 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:45.419 his art and his politics. That's a fascinating 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:47.699 foundation to build on. And then you look at 00:03:47.699 --> 00:03:50.360 his family influences and his upbringing was 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.340 steeped in this very specific kind of non -Orthodox 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:55.560 Christian environment. His father was a civil 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:57.439 engineer, but also a lay preacher. And it ran 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:59.159 deep in the family. Both of his grandfathers 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:01.379 were preachers as well. So he's surrounded by 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:03.759 these men. who are schooled public speakers, 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:06.300 who are comfortable in front of a crowd, and 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:08.840 who are focused on ethics and morality. It was 00:04:08.840 --> 00:04:10.979 less about strict dogma. Right. It was more about 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:14.159 the ethos of, as he put it, behaving in a Christian 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:16.379 manner to everybody you met. That was the goal. 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:19.750 And you can draw a straight line from that focus 00:04:19.750 --> 00:04:22.670 on ethical treatment, on social justice, to his 00:04:22.670 --> 00:04:24.930 activism later in life. No question. And then 00:04:24.930 --> 00:04:27.509 you add in the loss he experienced. His mother 00:04:27.509 --> 00:04:29.610 died of breast cancer when he was only 12, and 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:31.470 then his father passed away when Ian was just 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:35.189 25. That has to amplify that sense of moral direction. 00:04:35.350 --> 00:04:38.290 And that sense of social advocacy, it's almost 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:41.709 militant, and it's literally in his family tree. 00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:44.290 Which brings us to one of the most surprising... 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.259 and honestly delightful facts in this entire 00:04:47.259 --> 00:04:50.399 deep dive. I love this one. The unsung hero of 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:52.959 the modern weekend. Robert J. Lowe's McKellen's 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:55.000 great, great grandfather. He wasn't just some 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.639 ancestor. He was a dedicated activist in Manchester, 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:00.180 and he successfully campaigned for the Saturday 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:02.920 half holiday for workers. Which means he's literally 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:04.879 one of the grandfathers of the modern weekend. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.720 It's incredible. The man who would later dedicate 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:10.680 his life to fighting for LGBT rights comes from 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.439 a direct line of advocates fighting for the common 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.839 good. Advocacy is practically an inherited trait 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:19.300 in his family. I wonder if that environment of 00:05:19.300 --> 00:05:22.899 ethical communication, you know, the preaching, 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:26.980 the advocacy, if that also helped fuel his main 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:29.870 passion. very quickly became the theater. His 00:05:29.870 --> 00:05:31.649 parents were certainly supportive. They took 00:05:31.649 --> 00:05:33.730 him to see Peter Pan at the Manchester Opera 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:35.769 House when he was just three years old. Just 00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:39.370 three. And that spark, it wasn't just a fleeting 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:42.029 thing. It became real. For Christmas, when he 00:05:42.029 --> 00:05:45.329 was nine, he got this incredible fold -away Victorian 00:05:45.329 --> 00:05:48.079 theater. From Pollock's toy theaters. And the 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.600 set came with cardboard scenery for two specific 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:53.300 plays. Cinderella. Right, the big popular spectacle. 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:56.579 And notably, Laurence Olivier's version of Shakespeare's 00:05:56.579 --> 00:05:58.879 Hamlet. The foreshadowing is just perfect, isn't 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.879 it? Yeah. He literally got, as a toy, the two 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.220 worlds he would go on to conquer. The popular 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:06.180 and the classical. The path was right there. 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:08.379 And we can't forget his older sister, Jean, in 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:10.420 all this. She was his guide. She took him to 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:12.740 his very first Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night. 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.399 And she was an amateur actor and director herself. 00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:18.879 She even played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.220 Dream. So that connection to the world of performance 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.399 was immediate. It was familial. He wasn't trying 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:26.579 to break into some alien world. It felt like 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:29.740 home. And that passion carried him straight to 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:31.680 one of the most prestigious universities in the 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:34.879 world. In 1958, he gets a scholarship to the 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.240 University of Cambridge to study English literature. 00:06:37.540 --> 00:06:40.910 And this period is just... It's so crucial, not 00:06:40.910 --> 00:06:42.930 just for his academic life, but for his acting. 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:45.490 He threw himself into the Marlowe Society. And 00:06:45.490 --> 00:06:48.050 we should clarify, the Marlowe Society wasn't 00:06:48.050 --> 00:06:50.449 your average university drama club. This was 00:06:50.449 --> 00:06:53.449 a powerhouse, a feeder for the highest levels 00:06:53.449 --> 00:06:55.709 of British theater. Oh, absolutely. And McKellen 00:06:55.709 --> 00:06:58.250 was, well, he was prolific. He was in an astonishing 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:00.870 23 plays in his three years there. He was just 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:03.569 constantly acting, constantly honing his craft. 00:07:03.889 --> 00:07:06.589 Which is why he basically emerged from Cambridge 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:09.250 as a fully formed professional. Some of those 00:07:09.250 --> 00:07:11.750 performances are now legendary in theater circles. 00:07:11.930 --> 00:07:14.290 His Justice Shallow and Henry IV, for instance. 00:07:14.550 --> 00:07:16.509 And you have to look at who he was on stage with. 00:07:16.670 --> 00:07:19.139 Lifelong collaborators. people like Trevor Nunn 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:22.519 and Derek Jacoby. And he was already being directed 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.339 by huge figures like Peter Hall and John Barton. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:28.879 These were titans of the British stage. So it 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:30.980 wasn't really an education in the normal sense. 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:33.420 It was more like an apprenticeship among masters. 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:36.199 It set an incredibly high bar for him, and it 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:37.980 gave him his network in the classical theater 00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:40.819 world before he even had his degree. So he leaves 00:07:40.819 --> 00:07:43.079 Cambridge having already done this sort of... 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:45.480 unofficial, high -level stage apprenticeship, 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:48.199 and his professional career just takes off immediately. 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:52.060 It's a rapid launch. His debut is in 1961 at 00:07:52.060 --> 00:07:54.560 the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. He's playing 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:57.319 Roper in Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons. 00:07:57.540 --> 00:07:59.639 Which is a powerful start, a play about moral 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:02.160 principle, political defiance. Yeah. It ties 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.060 right back to his family roots, doesn't it? It 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:06.079 really does. And after four years of cutting 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.420 his teeth in regional repertory theatres, which 00:08:08.420 --> 00:08:11.079 is, you know, the absolute bedrock training for 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:13.860 any serious British actor, He makes his West 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:17.019 End debut. 1965. Yeah. In a play called A Scent 00:08:17.019 --> 00:08:20.199 of Flowers. And that was enough. That debut catapulted 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:22.180 him right into the major leagues. He joins the 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:25.019 National Theater Company that same year, 1965, 00:08:25.220 --> 00:08:28.180 which at the time was being led by the towering 00:08:28.180 --> 00:08:30.839 figure of Laurence Olivier himself. At the Old 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:33.879 Vic, no less. To go from regional theater to 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:37.419 Olivier's company in just four years. It just 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:39.990 shows the kind of respect he commanded. Right 00:08:39.990 --> 00:08:42.309 out of the gate. But the moment that really marked 00:08:42.309 --> 00:08:44.629 him, the moment that showed he was a real force 00:08:44.629 --> 00:08:46.929 to be reckoned with, that came a few years later. 00:08:47.009 --> 00:08:50.250 Edinburgh Festival, 1969. With the Prospect Theatre 00:08:50.250 --> 00:08:52.809 Company. This is where he takes on this enormous 00:08:52.809 --> 00:08:56.289 dual challenge. Shakespeare's Richard II and 00:08:56.289 --> 00:08:58.490 Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. And this is 00:08:58.490 --> 00:09:00.529 where we start to see that political side, that 00:09:00.529 --> 00:09:03.029 advocacy instinct, really manifest in his art. 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.139 The sources talk a lot about the controversy 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:07.279 sparked by Edward II. It's biffically, yeah. 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:09.820 It's depiction of the homosexual king's really 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:12.519 lurid death. Precisely. This wasn't just a successful 00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:15.059 play. It was provocative. He was pushing buttons, 00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:17.580 challenging the conservative sensibilities of 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:20.080 the time by presenting this complex, controversial 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.059 material about sexuality. Long before he ever 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:26.129 came out publicly. Years before, it showed he 00:09:26.129 --> 00:09:28.529 had no interest in being some safe, conventional 00:09:28.529 --> 00:09:30.809 leading man. He was willing to be dangerous. 00:09:31.070 --> 00:09:33.669 And that willingness, that became a hallmark 00:09:33.669 --> 00:09:37.230 of his entire career, both artistic and political. 00:09:37.529 --> 00:09:40.289 And that early taste of controversy really set 00:09:40.289 --> 00:09:42.889 the tone for his dominance through the 70s and 00:09:42.889 --> 00:09:46.029 80s. He became this undisputed stalwart of both 00:09:46.029 --> 00:09:48.889 the Royal Shakespeare Company, the RSC, and the 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:51.110 Royal National Theatre. He just cycled through 00:09:51.110 --> 00:09:53.679 all the great Shakespearean roles. Romeo. King 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.279 Lear, King John. And to really get a sense of 00:09:56.279 --> 00:09:58.679 this era, you have to look at the landmark productions. 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:02.460 Like, take as Macbeth in 1976. The reviews for 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:05.259 that were just incredible. Gripping, out of the 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:08.039 ordinary. He was starring opposite Judi Dench, 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:09.960 and their chemistry was apparently explosive. 00:10:10.379 --> 00:10:12.179 And the production wasn't just about a straightforward 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:15.279 villain. It emphasized the dark, psychological 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:17.679 breakdown of the couple. Which is so much harder 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.779 to play. And then just a few years later, he 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:22.679 completely pivots and plays Iago, the ultimate... 00:10:25.020 --> 00:10:28.980 That just shows the versatility. He can carry 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:31.279 the tragic weight of Macbeth and then, with the 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.940 same level of command, deliver the insidious, 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:37.000 calculated menace of Iago. And the stage mastery... 00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:39.779 It eventually crossed the Atlantic. In 1979, 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:42.980 he had this massive Broadway triumph when Peter 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:45.539 Schaffer's play Amadeus transferred from the 00:10:45.539 --> 00:10:47.759 National Theater. He took over the role of Antonio 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.580 Salieri, the envious court composer from Paul 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.080 Schofield. And the cast of that Broadway production 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.919 was stacked. Tim Curry was Mozart. Jane Seymour 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.419 was also in it. But it was McKellen's performance 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:01.299 that just got the highest possible praise. The 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:03.269 New York Times critic. Frank Rich, who was a 00:11:03.269 --> 00:11:06.049 huge authority. He specifically praised his depiction 00:11:06.049 --> 00:11:09.309 of Salieri's descent into madness. He said McKellen 00:11:09.309 --> 00:11:11.350 delivered dark notes of almost bone -rattling 00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.450 terror. He wasn't just playing a jealous man. 00:11:13.649 --> 00:11:16.730 He was playing a man losing his soul piece by 00:11:16.730 --> 00:11:19.669 piece, an intellectual just unraveling because 00:11:19.669 --> 00:11:22.509 of his resentment toward God. And that intensity 00:11:22.509 --> 00:11:25.190 won him the ultimate prize for a stage actor, 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:27.950 the Tony Award for Best Actor at a Play in 1981. 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:30.840 And the Tony is just one piece of the puzzle. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.919 His dominance in British theater is really quantified 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:36.299 by his Olivier Awards. And this isn't just about 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:38.460 collecting trophies. It's about proving he could 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.960 conquer any genre. His wins span four decades. 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:45.460 He wins for historical drama, for comedy like 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:48.740 The Alchemist, and crucially, for deeply political 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:52.539 work. You're talking about his 1979 win for Bent. 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.240 Exactly. Another role that bravely tackled a 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.740 controversial subject, the persecution of gay 00:11:57.740 --> 00:12:01.169 men during the Holocaust. It tied his art directly 00:12:01.169 --> 00:12:03.129 to this history of political suffering, which 00:12:03.129 --> 00:12:05.350 must have resonated so deeply with him. Absolutely. 00:12:05.370 --> 00:12:07.289 Even before he came out. And then he wins again 00:12:07.289 --> 00:12:09.590 for Wild Honey in 84. And then again for his 00:12:09.590 --> 00:12:12.830 stage production of Richard III in 95. That collection. 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:15.610 Yeah. It's just irrefutable proof. He was the 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:18.370 preeminent stage actor of his generation long 00:12:18.370 --> 00:12:20.730 before Hollywood really came knocking. You really 00:12:20.730 --> 00:12:23.210 can't analyze Ian McKellen's career without putting 00:12:23.210 --> 00:12:25.110 his activism right at the center of the story. 00:12:25.250 --> 00:12:27.029 It's not a footnote. It's a fundamental driver. 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.480 And his entire professional path takes this huge 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.360 turn in the late 1980s, and it's purely out of 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.179 political necessity. The sources make the catalyst 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:39.440 absolutely crystal clear. McKellen comes out 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:43.059 publicly as gay in 1988, and the timing was dictated 00:12:43.059 --> 00:12:45.179 by one thing. A pending piece of legislation, 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.000 the controversial Section 28 of the Local Government 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:50.940 Act, 1988. And for anyone who might not be familiar, 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:53.960 Section 28 was legislation designed to prohibit 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:58.109 local authorities and schools from... promoting 00:12:58.109 --> 00:13:00.570 homosexuality. It was just, it was a devastating, 00:13:00.649 --> 00:13:03.529 hostile law aimed at silencing any discussion 00:13:03.529 --> 00:13:06.330 of gay identity. And his coming out wasn't some, 00:13:06.370 --> 00:13:09.590 you know, carefully managed PR campaign. It happened 00:13:09.590 --> 00:13:12.830 spontaneously. He was on a BBC radio program 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:15.090 third year debating the issue with a conservative 00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:17.649 journalist. It was just this moment of immediate 00:13:17.649 --> 00:13:20.850 on -air political defiance. Yeah. It changed 00:13:20.850 --> 00:13:22.710 his life. That defiance was then immediately 00:13:22.710 --> 00:13:24.940 channeled into organized political action. He 00:13:24.940 --> 00:13:26.799 co -founded Stonewall, which is now one of the 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.340 UK's most important LGBT rights groups. And it 00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:31.399 was strategically named after the Stonewall riots 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.120 in the US. And what's so fascinating is how his 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:37.899 status as this revered, you know, high art Shakespearean 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:40.419 actor gave instant weight and visibility to the 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:43.440 cause. He brought political lobbying into the 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.820 gentlemen's clubs of Westminster. There's this 00:13:45.820 --> 00:13:48.220 amazing anecdote that just perfectly illustrates 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:51.039 that collision of his his artistic gentility 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.080 and his raw political anger. Right. While he. 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.179 was lobbying against Section 28, he runs into 00:13:56.179 --> 00:13:58.039 Michael Howard, who was the environment secretary 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.000 at the time. And Howard, after refusing to budge 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:04.320 on the law, then has the nerve to ask McKellen 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.159 for an autograph for his children. Unbelievable. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:09.580 The story goes that McKellen takes the paper, 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:13.019 but the inscription he writes is famously short 00:14:13.019 --> 00:14:15.919 and to the point. Fuck off, I'm gay. It's incredible. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:19.159 It just encapsulates how he used his status to 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.720 confront that institutional hypocrisy head on. 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.100 And he didn't stop there. He called the junior 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:27.559 ministers who drafted the law the ugly sisters 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:30.059 of a political pantomime. Framing it in theatrical 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:32.360 terms, it's brilliant. It's devastatingly critical 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:34.659 and easy for people to understand. And then when 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:37.620 he was knighted in 1991, his public profile, 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:40.519 the Knight's Crusade as some called it, became 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:42.940 an even more powerful tool. He understood that 00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:45.360 visibility was comfort for others. He spoke about 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.019 this. He said that his public stance gave people 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:50.820 reassurance. If Ian McKellen was on board for 00:14:50.820 --> 00:14:52.799 this, perhaps it would be all right for other 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:55.220 people to be as well. And of course, the knighthood 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:57.539 gave him that fantastic, affectionate nickname 00:14:57.539 --> 00:15:01.519 from Stephen Fry, Serena. He even brought this 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.700 whole journey back to the stage, which is the 00:15:04.700 --> 00:15:09.019 ultimate McKellen move. From 93 to 97, he tours 00:15:09.019 --> 00:15:11.440 his one -man show, A Knight's Out, which was 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:13.799 all about his experience of coming out. He was 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:16.000 sharing his personal liberation with his audience. 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:18.820 Now, all of this activism coincides perfectly 00:15:18.820 --> 00:15:22.139 with the moment his career pivots and film finally 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:24.759 starts to take hold. Right. He had a few earlier 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:27.259 film credits, but wider international recognition 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.879 didn't really happen until the early 90s. And 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:31.919 you see this immediate synergy between his political 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:34.580 focus and his film roles. He's not just taking 00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:36.980 any part. He's in Six Degrees Separation in 93. 00:15:37.259 --> 00:15:39.120 And that same year, he gets an Emmy nomination 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.179 for the HBO film. And the band played on. where 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:44.879 he played the real life AIDS activist Bill Krause. 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:47.360 So in the same year he's touring his show about 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.899 being a gay political figure, he's getting Emmy 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.200 nominated for playing a hero of the AIDS crisis. 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:54.870 The lines between the man and the mission were 00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:56.929 just blurring beautifully. But the film that 00:15:56.929 --> 00:15:59.169 was the ultimate bridge, the one that showed 00:15:59.169 --> 00:16:01.950 Hollywood he could translate that classical stage 00:16:01.950 --> 00:16:05.289 power to the screen, was the 1995 adaptation 00:16:05.289 --> 00:16:08.710 of Richard III. And he didn't just star in it. 00:16:08.769 --> 00:16:12.389 He co -wrote the screenplay, his debut, brilliantly 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:16.169 reimagining the play in a 1930s fascist setting. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.879 And that cast, Annette Bening, Robert Downey 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.580 Jr., Jim Broadbent, Maggie Smith, it just speaks 00:16:21.580 --> 00:16:23.700 to the level of respect he commanded. But the 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:25.779 story that really cements the legacy of this 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:28.320 film is his personal dedication to it. As an 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.600 executive producer, he literally returned his 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.639 own fee, 50 ,000 pounds, so the production could 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:36.000 afford to finish filming the final battle sequences. 00:16:36.340 --> 00:16:38.320 It wasn't about the money. It was about making 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.600 sure the artistic vision was fully realized on 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:43.700 screen. And that sacrifice paid off. Critics 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:46.899 were stunned. Roger Ebert praised his deep sympathy 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:50.360 for the playwright, noting the unique, self -aware 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:52.840 evil he brought to the character. He got a BAFTA 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:55.779 nomination, a Golden Globe nomination, and the 00:16:55.779 --> 00:16:58.440 screenplay was nominated for a BAFTA, too. It 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.100 was the moment he proved that the Shakespearean 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:02.519 actor couldn't just perform on screen, but could 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.019 command the medium, the perfect launchpad into 00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:07.930 global stardom. So the stage was set, the reputation 00:17:07.930 --> 00:17:10.910 was built, and as the millennium turned, McKellen 00:17:10.910 --> 00:17:13.789 launches into what we're calling the dual franchise 00:17:13.789 --> 00:17:17.930 launch. Around 1999, he accepts these two pivotal 00:17:17.930 --> 00:17:20.309 roles that would just cement his face, his voice, 00:17:20.390 --> 00:17:22.930 his persona into global pop culture forever. 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:26.359 It is truly unprecedented. He's cast as Magneto, 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:28.859 the master of magnetism, and this deeply cynical 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:31.140 villain in Bryan Singer's X -Men films starting 00:17:31.140 --> 00:17:33.619 in 2000. And at almost the exact same time, he's 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:36.180 cast as the wise, powerful, benevolent wizard 00:17:36.180 --> 00:17:39.319 Gandalf in Peter Jackson's massive Lord of the 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:41.420 Rings trilogy. And the really revolutionary thing 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:43.420 is the sheer duality of those two characters. 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:46.680 Magneto operates on cynicism, on vengeance, on 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:49.759 this profound sense of persecution. Which, given 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.240 his history with Section 28, must have resonated 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.279 with him on some level oh absolutely magneto 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.619 is this metaphor for the persecuted outsider 00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:00.539 and then gandalf is the complete opposite he's 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:02.660 the guiding moral center the personification 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:05.539 of wisdom and hope there are two sides of the 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.220 same fantasy coin and he mastered both of them 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:11.230 at the same time And just imagine the artistic 00:18:11.230 --> 00:18:14.130 and technical challenge of filming those back 00:18:14.130 --> 00:18:16.549 to back, two completely different worlds, two 00:18:16.549 --> 00:18:18.529 completely different acting styles. He talked 00:18:18.529 --> 00:18:20.930 about this a lot. Gandalf, especially because 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:22.950 of all the forced perspective filming in New 00:18:22.950 --> 00:18:25.609 Zealand, often required him to rely heavily on 00:18:25.609 --> 00:18:28.039 his stage training. He had to maintain this huge 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:30.819 presence, a commanding voice, and this deep emotional 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.599 connection while often acting opposite tennis 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:36.440 balls on sticks or tiny scale doubles. So he's 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.900 essentially translating the rigor of commanding 00:18:38.900 --> 00:18:42.059 a stage at the RSC to the technical complexity 00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:45.099 of a green screen in Wellington. It was a triumph 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:48.359 of classical technique over digital tech. Meanwhile, 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.940 Magneto needed this completely different internalized 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:55.769 menace, much less grand. More about cold calculation 00:18:55.769 --> 00:18:58.549 and intense close -ups. It was a masterclass 00:18:58.549 --> 00:19:01.390 in switching modes. And it paid off. He got his 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:04.269 Wizard's Honors. He won the Screen Actors Guild 00:19:04.269 --> 00:19:06.769 Award for Best Supporting Actor for Fellowship 00:19:06.769 --> 00:19:09.069 of the Ring. And critically, an Academy Award 00:19:09.069 --> 00:19:11.589 nomination for the role. And of course, he'd 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:14.730 return as Gandalf for the Hobbit trilogy later 00:19:14.730 --> 00:19:17.130 on. Speaking of X -Men, we have to talk about 00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:19.589 the brilliant story involving his great friend 00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:21.789 and collaborator, Patrick Stewart, who plays 00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:24.509 Professor X. Right. So when Stewart took the 00:19:24.509 --> 00:19:26.690 role of Captain Jean -Luc Picard in Star Trek, 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:30.230 the next generation, McKellen was not a fan. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.740 Not at all. He told him not to throw away his 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:35.019 respected theatrical career to work in television. 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:37.740 Which is just a wonderful piece of irony, given 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.319 that McKellen himself then becomes Magneto, the 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:44.619 co -lead of this massive film franchise. He later 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:46.660 admitted that Stewart had been completely prudent. 00:19:46.819 --> 00:19:49.140 Of course. And that shared history makes their 00:19:49.140 --> 00:19:51.559 later collaborations even better. Their joint 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:55.000 stage work is legendary. It proves that all that 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.440 global fame didn't change their commitment to 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.460 rigorous theater. In 2013, they brought a double 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:02.960 bill of Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter's 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.140 No Man's Land to Broadway. And the critics went 00:20:06.140 --> 00:20:09.160 wild for it. They were praised for finding plenty 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:12.799 of consoling comedy in two masterpieces of existential 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.240 despair. It proved that even after conquering 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:17.839 Middle Earth and mutant kind, they were still 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:20.789 fundamentally driven by challenging texts. We 00:20:20.789 --> 00:20:22.450 also have to talk about his incredible partnership 00:20:22.450 --> 00:20:24.829 with the director Bill Condon, which gave us 00:20:24.829 --> 00:20:26.769 some of McKellen's most critically acclaimed 00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:29.829 roles outside of the big franchises. It started 00:20:29.829 --> 00:20:33.509 with Gods and Monsters in 1998. McKellen played 00:20:33.509 --> 00:20:36.049 the real -life film director James Whale, who 00:20:36.049 --> 00:20:38.890 directed Frankenstein. It was this quiet, heartbreaking, 00:20:39.269 --> 00:20:42.369 deeply personal portrayal of a gay artist looking 00:20:42.369 --> 00:20:45.130 back on his life. That role got him his first 00:20:45.130 --> 00:20:48.049 Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Then they reunited 00:20:48.049 --> 00:20:50.609 almost two decades later for Mr. Holmes in 2015, 00:20:50.869 --> 00:20:52.809 which was another tour de force. In that, he 00:20:52.809 --> 00:20:55.670 plays Sherlock Holmes at age 93, struggling not 00:20:55.670 --> 00:20:57.930 with an external mystery, but with his own failing 00:20:57.930 --> 00:21:00.789 memory. It's this complex, poignant portrayal 00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:02.809 of an intellectual giant being diminished by 00:21:02.809 --> 00:21:05.150 age. Rolling Stone said what he did with Holmes 00:21:05.150 --> 00:21:07.910 was nothing short of magnificent. It showed that 00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:09.950 even in his mid -70s, he was still taking on 00:21:09.950 --> 00:21:13.250 these deeply vulnerable roles, not just coasting 00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:15.710 on his Gandalf fame. And then in a much lighter 00:21:15.710 --> 00:21:18.109 collaboration with Condon, he was the voice of 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:20.869 the clock, Cogsworth, in the live -action Beauty 00:21:20.869 --> 00:21:24.009 and the Beast. So in four films with one director, 00:21:24.210 --> 00:21:27.069 he plays a tragic artist, an elderly genius, 00:21:27.369 --> 00:21:29.990 a cynical supervillain, and a charming clock. 00:21:30.289 --> 00:21:32.980 That's just... That's breathtaking range. And 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:35.799 he expanded his TV work, too. From 2013 to 2016, 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:39.019 he co -starred in the sitcom Vicious with his 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:41.420 old Cambridge colleague, Derek Jacoby. It was 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:43.640 a very traditional sitcom about an elderly gay 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:46.180 couple. The original title was almost Vicious 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:48.579 Old Queens. It was filled with these hilarious 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:51.019 meta jokes. His character was described as a 00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:53.619 relatively unsuccessful character actor who stole 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:55.900 a tux after a guest spot on Downton Abbey. It 00:21:55.900 --> 00:21:58.000 was genius, just playing against his own revered 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:00.460 status. And it proved his conic timing was just 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:02.619 as sh**. sharp as his dramatic presence. He also 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:05.500 had that great guest role as himself in Ricky 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:09.140 Gervais' Extras, got an Emmy nod for that, and 00:22:09.140 --> 00:22:12.240 fulfilled a lifelong dream with a cameo in Coronation 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:14.720 Street. That Coronation Street cameo must have 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.019 been huge for him. For his 76th birthday, he 00:22:18.019 --> 00:22:20.440 was actually gifted a cobble from the set. Which 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:22.980 is the ultimate sign of British affection. But 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:26.440 his dedication to the stage never, ever wavered. 00:22:26.670 --> 00:22:29.369 He returned to his classical roots, playing King 00:22:29.369 --> 00:22:32.470 Lear in 2017 and 18, a role he thought would 00:22:32.470 --> 00:22:35.289 be his last big Shakespearean part. He still 00:22:35.289 --> 00:22:37.589 demands that challenge, but the challenge brought 00:22:37.589 --> 00:22:40.509 risk. His most recent stage show, Player Kings, 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:43.769 which is an adaptation of Henry IV, it made headlines 00:22:43.769 --> 00:22:46.450 globally. For a very concerning incident in June 00:22:46.450 --> 00:22:49.910 2024. He was playing Falstaff, a very physical 00:22:49.910 --> 00:22:52.750 role, and during a fight scene, he fell off the 00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:55.269 front of the stage. Thankfully, he was reported 00:22:55.269 --> 00:22:57.829 to be in good spirits, but the injuries meant 00:22:57.829 --> 00:22:59.589 he had to pull out of the rest of the tour dates 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:02.369 on medical advice. It's a reminder that even 00:23:02.369 --> 00:23:04.529 for him, the physical demands of classical theater 00:23:04.529 --> 00:23:08.089 are immense. And yet, the film work is far from 00:23:08.089 --> 00:23:10.690 over. He's already set to come back as Magneto 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:14.910 in the upcoming Avengers, Doomsday in 2026. The 00:23:14.910 --> 00:23:18.980 longevity is just astounding. So let's shift 00:23:18.980 --> 00:23:21.279 a bit to the man behind all these roles. The 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:23.720 sources give us some really crucial details about 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:25.819 McKellen's personal life, his relationships, 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:29.259 his core beliefs that inform that public persona. 00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:32.480 Before he publicly came out in 88. He had two 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.400 significant long -term relationships. The first 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:37.480 was with Brian Taylor, a history teacher, from 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:40.980 1964 to 1972. And later he was with the director 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:44.059 and playwright Sean Mathias from 1978 to 1988. 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:46.660 The sources describe that relationship as being 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:48.500 quite tempestuous. Right. There were conflicts 00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:50.599 that apparently came from the imbalance in their 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:52.720 professional success at the time, with McKellen 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:54.619 being the bigger star. What's important to note, 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.599 though, is that even after the romantic relationship 00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:59.140 ended, they stayed close friends and professional 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:02.220 partners. Which says a lot about him. They even 00:24:02.220 --> 00:24:04.359 bought the lease of the Grapes Pub and Limehouse 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:06.460 together, which is where McKellen has lived for 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:09.299 over 25 years. In terms of his philosophy, he 00:24:09.299 --> 00:24:12.079 identifies as an atheist, which is a notable 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:14.019 shift, isn't it, given that he grew up surrounded 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:17.019 by preachers? It is, yeah. A quiet rejection 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:20.140 of that background, maybe. But it aligns with 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:23.259 his advocacy for universal ethics over specific 00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:26.799 dogma. And on a lighter note, he's a pesetarian, 00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:30.000 lost his appetite for meat except fish back in 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:32.559 the late 80s. and he's been remarkably open about 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.539 his health he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:37.440 in 2006 but he's always reassured the public 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:39.779 that the condition is contained and hasn't required 00:24:39.779 --> 00:24:43.549 active treatment that openness is just It's perfectly 00:24:43.549 --> 00:24:45.789 in line with his lifelong commitment to visibility 00:24:45.789 --> 00:24:48.349 and transparency. And we have to talk about that 00:24:48.349 --> 00:24:50.430 beautiful moment where his personal and artistic 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:53.529 lives intersected in the most heartwarming way, 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:56.289 the Patrick Stewart wedding. Oh, it's the best 00:24:56.289 --> 00:24:59.170 story. In 2013, McKellen registered as a marriage 00:24:59.170 --> 00:25:01.890 officiant in Massachusetts, specifically so he 00:25:01.890 --> 00:25:03.650 could preside over the wedding of Patrick Stewart 00:25:03.650 --> 00:25:07.079 to the singer Sonny Ozel. It's just... It's such 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:09.980 a defining anecdote of their friendship to go 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:12.160 through the legal process just to officiate for 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:15.339 your friend. That demonstrates a depth of relationship 00:25:15.339 --> 00:25:17.980 that goes far beyond any onscreen partnership. 00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:20.720 Absolutely. And of course, no deep dive into 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:22.740 the Lord of the Rings era is complete without 00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:24.779 mentioning the ultimate mark of cast commitment. 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:28.579 The fellowship tattoo. The Elvish No. 9, written 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:30.859 in Tolkien's Tangoir script, on his shoulder. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.599 It was this powerful, shared bonding experience 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.059 with seven other members of the Fellowship cast. 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:38.880 And the fun detail is that John Rhys -Davies, 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:41.880 who played Gimli, he decided not to get it. But 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:44.579 his stunt double, Brett Beattie, stepped up and 00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:47.319 got the tattoo instead. So they kept the integrity 00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:49.779 of the nine members. McKellen later joked that 00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:52.000 getting the tattoo was more painful than childbirth, 00:25:52.059 --> 00:25:54.150 which, uh... He admitted he wouldn't know anything 00:25:54.150 --> 00:25:57.230 about. It's those quirky humanizing details that 00:25:57.230 --> 00:25:59.849 stop him from ever feeling, you know, too lofty 00:25:59.849 --> 00:26:01.829 despite the knighthood and the wizard robes. 00:26:01.829 --> 00:26:04.910 Yeah. And he's also embraced these incredibly 00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:07.490 unique collaborations on social media. You're 00:26:07.490 --> 00:26:09.390 talking about the unlikely friendship with ABA's 00:26:09.390 --> 00:26:13.170 Bjorn Olweus. Exactly. Since 2021, these two 00:26:13.170 --> 00:26:15.809 cultural titans have been posting Instagram videos 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:18.190 of themselves knitting Christmas jumpers. The 00:26:18.190 --> 00:26:21.220 image alone. Gandalf and the guy from ABA just 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:24.259 calmly knitting is fantastic. And it recently 00:26:24.259 --> 00:26:27.000 went to the next level. In 2023, the two famous 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.000 knitting brothers agreed to knit customized stage 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:32.859 wear for Kylie Minogue's Las Vegas residency. 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:35.859 From leading armies against Sauron to knitting 00:26:35.859 --> 00:26:39.440 pop star costumes, it just highlights this eclectic, 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:41.559 unpredictable engagement with modern culture. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.250 He refuses to be put in a box. And finally, let's 00:26:45.250 --> 00:26:47.470 just reiterate the focus of his ongoing legacy 00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:50.630 in activism and charity. He could lobby on almost 00:26:50.630 --> 00:26:52.650 any issue, but he's been incredibly disciplined. 00:26:52.869 --> 00:26:55.210 Right. He said he's reluctant to lobby on broader 00:26:55.210 --> 00:26:57.650 issues like nuclear weapons or capital punishment. 00:26:57.650 --> 00:27:00.130 Because he prioritizes one thing above all else, 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:02.730 legal and social equality for gay people worldwide. 00:27:03.420 --> 00:27:05.720 That laser focus is a testament to the urgency 00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:07.819 he felt back when Section 28 was introduced. 00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:09.700 He's still a patron of numerous organizations, 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.519 LGBT History Month, Oxford Pride, the Albert 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:14.819 Kennedy Trust, which helps young homeless LGBT 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:17.140 people. And he takes that activism overseas. 00:27:17.660 --> 00:27:20.420 He caused a stir in Singapore when he bluntly 00:27:20.420 --> 00:27:22.380 asked an interviewer to recommend a gay bar. 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:24.839 And the question immediately ended the program. 00:27:25.059 --> 00:27:27.380 It just shows how his visibility can make repressive 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:30.589 regimes uncomfortable. Beyond LGBT rights, he 00:27:30.589 --> 00:27:33.049 also supports Age UK, and he famously helped 00:27:33.049 --> 00:27:35.089 fundraise for the Isaac Theatre Royal in New 00:27:35.089 --> 00:27:37.750 Zealand after the Christchurch earthquake. It 00:27:37.750 --> 00:27:39.230 was the last theater he played in there, so it 00:27:39.230 --> 00:27:41.769 was deeply personal. His legacy is just one of 00:27:41.769 --> 00:27:44.170 unwavering service to his art and to his community. 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:47.089 So we've tracked Sir Ian McKellen through this 00:27:47.089 --> 00:27:49.589 truly phenomenal arc, from a childhood shaped 00:27:49.589 --> 00:27:51.630 by the Blitz, through his brilliance at Cambridge, 00:27:51.910 --> 00:27:54.869 his decades dominating the classical stage, to 00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:57.410 this improbable, glorious transition into a global 00:27:57.410 --> 00:28:00.359 film icon. And the three line, the central thesis, 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:03.480 has to be this extraordinary adaptability. Moving 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.680 so seamlessly from the high theatricality of 00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:08.700 Richard III and King Lear to the epic fantasy 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:11.240 of Gandalf and the stylized menace of Magneto. 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:14.720 And his career really forces you to ask a question 00:28:14.720 --> 00:28:18.200 about the hierarchy of art. What does his dedication 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:21.579 to constantly going back to the classical, stadia 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:24.299 playing Lear or Hamlet again and again, and recently 00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:26.920 Falstaff, what does that tell us about the relationship 00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:29.859 between stage mastery and global stardom? It's 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:32.690 a fascinating question. Does that classical training 00:28:32.690 --> 00:28:36.230 fuel the iconic characters? Does it give Gandalf 00:28:36.230 --> 00:28:38.569 and Magneto the depth and the gravitas to feel 00:28:38.569 --> 00:28:41.029 like real people instead of just cartoon figures? 00:28:41.289 --> 00:28:43.289 Or is it the other way around? Does the enormous 00:28:43.289 --> 00:28:45.509 commercial freedom, the financial stability that 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:47.430 comes from playing those iconic characters? Does 00:28:47.430 --> 00:28:49.609 that give him the artistic and financial space 00:28:49.609 --> 00:28:52.769 to return to the more demanding, less profitable, 00:28:52.950 --> 00:28:55.630 but maybe more creatively fulfilling work, like 00:28:55.630 --> 00:28:57.509 doing Beckett and Pinter with Patrick Stewart? 00:28:57.750 --> 00:28:59.849 The sheer length of his career, from A Man for 00:28:59.849 --> 00:29:02.410 All Seasons in 1961, all the way up to reprising 00:29:02.410 --> 00:29:05.549 Magneto in 2026, it suggests that for McKellen, 00:29:05.670 --> 00:29:08.369 the two worlds are just. They're fundamentally 00:29:08.369 --> 00:29:11.309 inseparable. Right. The global stage gives him 00:29:11.309 --> 00:29:13.410 the freedom and the visibility, and the classical 00:29:13.410 --> 00:29:15.970 stage gives him the soul, the discipline, the 00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:18.650 foundation. His mastery isn't about choosing 00:29:18.650 --> 00:29:21.130 one, it's about commanding both at the same time. 00:29:21.269 --> 00:29:22.990 And I think the final thought to leave you with 00:29:22.990 --> 00:29:26.430 is this. His activism proves he used the power 00:29:26.430 --> 00:29:29.880 he acquired. the knighthood the global fame not 00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:32.660 just for himself or his art but to create a safer 00:29:32.660 --> 00:29:35.720 more visible world for others so if an actor's 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:37.880 greatest work is about embodying truth how much 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:39.759 did the necessity for him to live his personal 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.759 truth shape his artistic ability to fully embody 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.519 these complex conflicted characters like richard 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:47.980 iii and magneto were always fighting against 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:49.839 the established order something to mull over 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:51.339 as you watch whatever he does next