Ian Mckellen Quotes

"Tolkien is as good as Dickens at sketching a scene."

"Splendid architecture, the love of your life, an old friend... they can all go drifting by unseen if you're not careful."

"I increasingly see organized religion as actually my enemy. They treat me as their enemy. Not all Christians, of course. Not all Jews, not all Muslims."

"Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different."

"Personally, coming out was one of the most important things I've ever done, lifting from my shoulders the millstone of lies that I hadn't even realized I was carrying."

"I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying, 'This is fiction.'"

"I certainly don't disparage someone whose attitude towards their work is utterly different from mine - that's up to them."

"How do I act so well? What I do is I pretend to be the person I'm portraying in the film or play."

"No actor wants to play to an empty house."

"In the past, kids didn't tell their parents they were gay, so there were never the bust-ups. Some parents react so strongly to the news that their children are gay that the reaction is, 'Get out of our house.' There's a residue of old prejudices that are going to die hard."

"What I particularly like about Broadway is the camaraderie and the friendship of other people in other shows. Everybody knows you're opening and cares about you. There's a real village atmosphere."

"Imagine trying to be a gay actor, a gay anything in modern Russia? Where to be positively oneself, to be affectionate in public with someone you love of the same gender, or to talk of that love in the hearing of anyone under 18, will put you prison?"

"Tony Blair is not a villain, but he's played the part very well."

"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."

"Gandalf the Grey was always the guy I prefer. Gandalf the White was driven to do a particular job, whereas Gandalf the Grey is a bit more humane."

"I learned that coming out was crucial to self-esteem."

"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."

"Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them."

"Magneto wants to cope with the difficulties thrust upon him by society and by his own nature."

"I've always felt that 'X-Men' was about something serious. It wasn't just fantasy."

"I don't make much distinction between being a stand-up comic and acting Shakespeare - in fact, unless you're a good comedian, you're never going to be able to play Hamlet properly."

"People who are truly horrible are often the most interesting people in the room. You look at them and just say, 'Why?'"

"Doing some of the 'Lord Of The Rings' press junkets got a bit claustrophobic."

"The first film role I deliberately chose to play after I came out was a raging heterosexual, John Profumo."

"Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There's more to life than you know and it's all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it."

"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."

"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."

"It was wrongly assumed that I wished to become some sort of leader among gay activists, whereas in reality I was happier to be a foot soldier."

"It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous."

"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."