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" Before I ever acted as an amateur - which I did a great deal at school and at university - I used to go to the theater with my parents in the north of England, where I was born and brought up... Theater of all sorts. "

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" Anyone who thinks Peter Jackson would fall for market forces around him rather than artistic integrity doesn't know the guy or the body of his work. "

Ian Mckellen

Know

Integrity

Him

" The press like to talk to actors. They mustn't be surprised when actors talk back to them. "

" What's nice for me, having identified myself for years as being rather shy, is now, wherever I am, in public, there tends to be a friendly face who's pleased to see me, and I like that. "

" The spirit of the four hobbits in 'Lord of the Rings,' I suppose I miss that. "

" Gandalf the Grey was always the guy I prefer. Gandalf the White was driven to do a particular job, whereas Gandalf the Grey is a bit more humane. "

Ian Mckellen

White

Job

" Most actors are not rich - they are very poor indeed. What keeps them going is that they just love the job. "

" I am lucky, I don't have aches and pains. I do Pilates regularly, which is a series of stretching exercises, and I recommend it to anyone of my age because the temptation is not to exercise when you get older. Well, you should. "

" I'm only an actor. I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy. All I've ever done is learn the lines and say them. "

" I live for the text. It's my job. "

" I don't think many people will re-read 'The Da Vinci Code.' "

" Gandalf is in Middle-earth to keep an eye on everybody, and that can be a rather serious matter. "

" I owe a great deal to Harold Hobson, doyen drama critic of the 'U.K. Sunday Times,' who championed me as Shakespeare's Richard II at the 1969 Edinburgh Festival. "

" I've often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying, 'This is fiction.' "

" I got intrigued by working in small theatres. "

" 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. "

" The battle going on over gay marriage in America reveals an awful lot. The Bible belt - people hate gay people. Because the Bible tells them? No, the Bible tells them an awful lot of things that they ignore. "

" Every time you work is a challenge. There's a constant worry about it, and it's a side of acting I don't like. "

" I'm an eccentric English actor, and there's a lot of us around. "

Ian Mckellen

English

Eccentric

" Thanks to every gay person in public and non-public life who has come out. "

" Who does understand life? "

" 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

" It's an interesting but useless bit of information that every single character in 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' wears a wig, and many of them wears a prosthetic - false ears, feet, hands. In my case, nose. "

" I love working in New York. "

" '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. "

" My own death threats have declined considerably. "

" I don't any longer make any quality judgement between theater and cinema. They are different experiences for the audience, and they also are for the actors - although they have a lot in common. "

" 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. "

" I know actors who have had to turn down good roles because they just don't pay enough. It's hard. "

" Quakers are terrific. "

Ian Mckellen

Quakers

Terrific

" I came rather late to film. I've done an awful lot of theater before - before I discovered the camera, you know, seeing everything, requiring much less acting and - and much less presentation, much less projecting, more just being. "