Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen is an actor of stage and screen, and a prolific activist. Notable film roles include James Whale in 'Gods and Monsters', Magneto in The 'X-Men' trilogy and Gandalf in 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring’. He also reprised the role in 'The Hobbit’ trilogy. On stage, he has enjoyed a long and varied career. He has performed the title roles in Shakesperean plays such as 'Macbeth' and 'King Lear', as well as comedy roles like Widow Twanky in 'Aladdin’. McKellen has also taken occasional tv roles. He fulfilled a somewhat surprising ambition in 2005, when he appeared for a 10-episode arc in the British soap opera 'Coronation Street'. He also starred alongside Derek Jacobi in the sitcom ‘Vicious’, wherein they played bickering lovers in their later years. The show ran for 2 full seasons and 2 Christmas specials, between 2013 and 2016. Ian McKellen has been openly homosexual since 1988 when he came out on a BBC radio show whilst discussing Section 28; a now defunct legislation that forbade the discussion, promotion or recognition of homosexuals in the U.K. education system. A few months later he co-founded Stonewall: an LGBT rights charity, with whom he remains involved.