13 thoughts on “MCM: Ian McKellen

  1. Epic choice! He’s amazing -& I’ve read he’s a complete sweetheart as well-… I do love your choices in both this & WCW,

  2. Gandalf is my favourite, but LOTR are my favourites book and movie. If I had to choose a couple of others. I really liked his Nicholas II, his Sherlock, his Amos Starkadder in Cold Comfort Farm. Also his Shakespeare kings.
    Besides his modern roles. Sir Ian is just amazeballs.

  3. Apparently Sir Ian and I share a trait in common: raging at checkout machines in supermarkets. I suspect we are not alone in this. Aside from that, his range and career are extremely impressive. Always fascinating to see the chemistry he creates with his co-stars.

  4. Saw the name and smiled. Impossible not to love Ian McKellen after LOTR and his brief appearance in “The Five-ish Doctors”. His is also, from what I have read, an admirable human being. Of his historical film roles however it is the devious cruel Richard III that stands out for me. My favourite Richard III to date.

  5. I first became aware of him as Chauvelin in “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” then saw him in his one-man show “Acting Shakespeare.” I was thrilled to meet him during that run (and yes, he IS a sweetheart). I have to tell the story. He had been doing the show at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and it was about to end. A local summer theater (now a year-round theater) had a performance run fall through. Sir Ian volunteered to fill in the gap by taking “Acting Shakespeare” to that theater. THEN, when he found out that the air conditioning in the actors area was dying, he suggested that if the theater would sell posters of the show, he would autograph them for $5 each, all money to go to the A/C replacement fund. I still have mine. And that’s when I got to meet him.

    By the way, if you haven’t seen him in Cold Comfort Farm, you are in for a treat.

  6. Anthony Andrews is wonderful as the hero in The Scarlet Pimpernel, but McKellen nearly steals the film as the Iago-like villain.

  7. Gandalf. He’s marvelous as Gandalf.

    I squealed at that young picture of him in David Copperfield. I’ve never seen him that young before! I love that version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, also.

    I have spent many an evening watching interviews with him on YouTube. He really IS a wonderful human being.

  8. Permit me to share a shameless anecdote:

    I was very lucky to see Sir Ian on stage as Lear (the live version of the Lear mentioned above) in 2007 for high school English even though I now have the image of his genitals (no lie) seared on my brain as he downed trou in the mad scene after Lear’s daughters chuck him out of the palace. Still a great performance and exactly like what I managed Lear to be in the play, blustering, vulnerable and absolutely devastating when it all falls apart when the French king invades and he is all alone. The main reason the production came to Wellington in the first place was because he had enjoyed living here during the filming of LOTR. Needless to say he is welcome to come back anytime he likes :).

  9. Happy to see Cold Comfort Farm get a shout out. He’s one of many things that’s wonderful (and hilarious) in that film.

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