Career Q&A; with
Ian McKellen. Moderated by
Dave Karger,
Fandango.
Ian McKellen has been honored with over 50 international acting awards during his half-century on stage
and screen. He is treasured worldwide as
Magneto in the
X-Men films and
Gandalf in
The Lord of the Rings and
The Hobbit trilogies.
He first worked with director
Bill Condon as
James Whale in
Gods and Monsters (
1998) receiving his first
Academy Award® nomination, for
Best Actor. The same year, top critics' groups elected him Best Actor, as the Nazi-in-hiding in
Bryan Singer's
Apt Pupil. For his classic performance in
Richard Loncraine's
Richard III, which he produced and co-wrote, he was named
1996 European Actor of the Year.
His varied list of other renowned films include
The Keep (
1983);
Plenty (
1985);
Scandal (
1988);
Six Degrees of Separation (
1993);
Restoration (
1995);
Bent (
1997);
Cold Comfort Farm (1995) andThe
Da Vinci Code (
2006).
On the small screen, McKellen currently stars in the wickedly successful
ITV/
PBS sitcom
Vicious. For his extensive television work, McKellen is a five-time
Emmy nominee, most recently for his matchless
King Lear (2008); and his comic guest spot on
Extras (2006) remembered for the viral catch-phrase: "How do I act so well?" He is most proud of his work as the mentally- handicapped
Walter (
1982 Royal Television Award) inAnd the
Band Played On (1993
Cable Ace Award), about the origins of
AIDS and a guest spot in
UK's longest-running soap
Coronation Street (
2005).
Born and raised in the north of
England, McKellen attended
Cambridge University and since
1961 has worked non-stop in the
British theatre. He has been leading man and produced plays, modern and classic, for the
Royal Shakespeare Company and the
National Theatre of Great Britain and in the
West End of London. He has won
Olivier Awards for
Macbeth (1976-78);
The Alchemist (
1977); Bent (
1979);
Wild Honey (
1984) and Richard III (
1990): plus
Evening Standard Awards for
Coriolanus (1984) and
Othello (
1989) and for
Outstanding Contribution to
British Theatre (2009).
In
1981, he won every available award, including a
Tony for Best Actor, as Salieri in the
Broadway production of
Peter Shaffer's
Amadeus. He was most recently in
New York in
No Man's Land and
Waiting for Godot after breaking all box-office records in
London and on UK and world tours. Over a decade, he toured his solo entertainment
Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare throughout four continents, where on
DVD it is daily viewed in schools and universities. He astonished his fans as
Widow Twankey in the
Christmas pantomime at the
Old Vic in London (2004 & 2005).
In
1991 Sir Ian was knighted, for his outstanding contribution to theatre. He is co-founder of
Stonewall UK, which lobbies for legal and social equality for gay people. In 2008, the
Queen personally appointed him
Companion of Honour for his services to drama and to equality.
- published: 16 Oct 2015
- views: 13806