“I can't take on all the worries of the world, you know. I can only talk about being gay and being an actor. I'll have to leave those other battles to somebody else.” KnowsWorldI CanActorsWorryGayBattleBeing Gay Author:Ian Mckellen
“I've always longed for the theatre and acting to be popular. No actor wants to play to an empty house. We only do it for an audience. The more the merrier. I don't make any distinction between a popular TV series or blockbuster film and doing Shakespeare. They're different, but as long as the material is good and the intention is honourable, it's all the same to me.” WantLongDifferentPlayFilmActorsHouseActingAudienceMaterialsTvsEmptySeriesIntentionTheatreDistinctionTv SeriesBlockbusterEmpty HousesMore The Merrier Author:Ian Mckellen
“Actors are merely the medium through which a story happens.” StoriesHappensActorsMediums Author:Ian Mckellen
“[There's] nothing special about an actor's imagination, except that he uses it a lot.” UseActorsImaginationSpecial Author:Ian Mckellen
“You can always pick out stage actors at the Oscars: they know how to walk.” KnowsActorsWalksKnow HowStagePicksOscarsStage Actors Author:Ian Mckellen
“I've played an awful lot of people that other people would call villains, but that isn't a very helpful attitude to have if you're about to play them. They are just people, and they may do dreadful things and say dreadful things, but your job as an actor is to know why they do them or say them.” PeopleIfsKnowsMayPlayJobsActorsAttitudeAwfulHelpfulVillain Author:Ian Mckellen
“You would be surprised how many directors don't know what they want. They might not know what they want until they see it, they might know what they want but no idea how to get it out of the actor, then you've both got a problem.” KnowsWantIdeasProblemMightWould BeActorsDirectorsNo IdeaWant U Author:Ian Mckellen
“There are directors, and I think this is true of all directors, it would be true if I was a director - If the actor didn't want to do what I was suggesting, I would let him do it his way, and then I would say to him, "Just give me one where you do what the director wants", and that, of course, is the take that's used.” IfsThinkingWayWantGivingWould BeUsedCoursesActorsDirectorsGive MeBeing TrueSuggesting Author:Ian Mckellen
“The performance is created by the director. The actor is the material. And I think that has to be true.” ThinkingActorsMaterialsDirectorsPerformancesBeing True Author:Ian Mckellen
“For old actors, just remember that inside you're only 14. Acting is for kids. You poor old grown-ups, you've forgotten how to do what kids know automatically.” KnowsKidsRememberActorsPoorActingForgotten Author:Ian Mckellen
“Before acting, I wanted to become a journalist. I also toyed with the idea of being a chef - but that's only when people asked me what I wanted to be. In fact, I always used to say I wanted to be an actor, but I didn't ever believe that I was good enough to be come one.” PeopleBelieveIdeasEnoughFactsWantedUsedActorsActingJournalistGood EnoughChef Author:Ian Mckellen
“I have never wanted to be typecast, one of those actors who plays a variation on a one-note theme. So just as I enjoy playing a wide variety of characters, from good to bad to ugly to cute - so I have enjoyed of late working in film and television, as well as in theatres of various sizes and shapes.” WellsPlayCharacterWantedFilmActorsEnjoyActingTelevisionShapesLateNotesSizeVariousUglyWideTheatreVarietyEnjoyedCuteThemeVariationFilm And Television Author:Ian Mckellen
“Quite low down in the list is "How much am I going to be paid?"... my main feeling about money is that I don`t want to feel as though I`m being taken advantage of... The other actors they asked to play Gandalf wouldn`t go to New Zealand on that money for that length of time. I thought it would be a bit of an adventure... I`m an eccentric actor, and there`s a lot of us around.” WantFeelsPlayFeelingsWould BeActorsBitsActingTakenAdventureLowsAdvantagePaidListsLengthEccentricNew ZealandTaken Advantage Author:Ian Mckellen
“I've had enough of being a gay icon! I've had enough of all this hard work, because, since I came out, I keep getting all these parts, and my career's taken off. I want a quiet life. I'm going back into the closet. But I can't get back into the closet, because it's absolutely jam-packed full of other actors.” WantI CanHardEnoughActorsCareersTakenHard WorkGayQuietGet BackClosetsIconsJamHad EnoughQuiet Life Author:Ian Mckellen
“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.” StillsI CanEnoughCertainActorsEnergyProud Author:Ian Mckellen
“In the theatre, the actor is in total control. The director wasn't in the house last night, the designer wasn't there, the author's dead. It's just us and the audience.” LastsNightActorsHouseAudienceDirectorsTheatreDesignerLast Night Author:Ian Mckellen
“It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It`s very distressing to me that that should be the case. The film industry is very old fashioned in California.” IfsWantShouldFilmActorsDifficultCareersCasesIndustrySexualityCaliforniaOld FashionedFilm IndustryDistressing Author:Ian Mckellen
