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" 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. "
Ian Mckellen
Gay
I Can
Know
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" The whole atmosphere of the book, the tone of 'The Hobbit,' is of a kid's adventure story, told in the first person by Tolkien, who is introducing young people to the notion of Middle-earth. A lot of it is very light-hearted. "
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" I'm brilliant at cooking my stepmother's scrambled egg recipe. The secret is to put eggs, butter, milk, and seasoning together in the saucepan, and to keep stirring with a wooden spoon under a low heat until the preferred consistency is reached. "
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" I used to think 'King Lear' was an analysis of insanity, but I don't really think it is. When Lear is supposed to be at his most insane, he is actually understanding the world for the first time. "
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" 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. "
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" My own death threats have declined considerably. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.' "
Ian Mckellen
Think
Saying
School
" When I left Cambridge, I applied to regional repertory theaters in the U.K. and got accepted by one of them... And here I am, still at it. "
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I Am
Still
Left
" I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887 - 1976) lived and painted. "
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Down
Road
Up
" Will I miss Gandalf? Well, I don't miss him, because people are constantly coming up to me mentioning him and talking about him, so I don't feel that I've lost contact. "
Ian Mckellen
Him
Feel
Me
" 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. "
Ian Mckellen
You
Language
Go
" I learned that coming out was crucial to self-esteem. "
Ian Mckellen
Coming
Learned
Self-Esteem
" 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. "
Ian Mckellen
Long
Doing
Intention
" The strength of British theatre should be that these actors in their middle years know what they're doing and are good at it. Not rich, not famous, but making a living. "
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Strength
Theatre
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" I love musicals; I love the ballet, opera, the circus. It's all performance to me. "
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Performance
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" 'King Lear,' I've been seeing all my life. I mean, the great actors of my lifetime... to join their company, as it were, by playing a part that's challenged them, is one of the great joys of being an actor who does the classics. "
Ian Mckellen
My Life
Seeing
Mean
" When I came out, I told my stepmother Gladys, and she just said she had known for years and was glad I wasn't lying anymore. "
Ian Mckellen
Out
Lying
Years
" I headed out to have a breather at the stage door, dressed in my tramp costume. I had my bowler hat between my feet and there were passers-by, and one of them turned back and said, 'Do you need help, brother?' And $1 fell into my hat! "
Ian Mckellen
Brother
Hat
Feet
" Gandalf is ever-present in my life. I like it. "
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My Life
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Life
" 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. "
Ian Mckellen
Important
Things
Shoulders
" I don't have Gandalf the White's certainty about everything. "
Ian Mckellen
White
Everything
Certainty
" In the '50s and '60s, the life of a gay man was a secret. Homosexuality was illegal, so you didn't draw attention to yourself. "
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Gay
Attention
Life
" Doing some of the 'Lord Of The Rings' press junkets got a bit claustrophobic. "
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Some
Got
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" We're very lucky, men, that there are these fabulous parts. Women - once you've done all the parts in Shakespeare, they start running out. So you can pick and choose and find something to energise you. "
Ian Mckellen
You
Choose
Done
" You see people in Hollywood trying to make blockbuster after blockbuster, but it's not possible. There's some god up there saying, 'You will fail now.' But I suppose that's true of us all. "
Ian Mckellen
Saying
You
God
" Very, very rare that you do a job knowing that the audience is desperate for you to do that job. Most films you make don't get released, is the fact. "
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You
Fact
Job
" Quakers are terrific. "
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Quakers
Terrific
" My friends are my family. "
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Family
" Who does understand life? "
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Life
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Who