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" I remember Tom Stoppard saying to me when I came out, 'I feel so sorry for you, because you'll never have children.' These days I would say, 'Well, why not, Tom?' "

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" If I have any audience, they can know that anything I am in, I would go see, with the expectation of being really satisfied. "

Ian Mckellen

Audience

Expectation

I Am

" That was the big effect Lord of the Rings had on me. It was discovering New Zealand. And even more precious were the people- not at all like the Australians. "

" One thing Middle-earth is short on is the feminine. "

" I think with Shakespeare you can be required to do absolutely anything at the turn of a sixpence - suddenly you go into a battle, suddenly you utter something passionate. "

" 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. "

" I've always felt that 'X-Men' was about something serious. It wasn't just fantasy. "

" Bill Gallagher's new version of 'The Prisoner' is an enthralling commentary on modern culture. It is witty, intelligent and disturbing. I am very excited to be involved. "

" I love musicals; I love the ballet, opera, the circus. It's all performance to me. "

Ian Mckellen

Performance

Ballet

" I'm not someone who wears shades all the time and ducks into a darkened car in case I'm recognized - that would be absolute misery. "

" 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. "

" Why not celebrate those who want to marry and bring up a family? "

Ian Mckellen

Celebrate

Bring

" Anyone in public life who comes out, comes out primarily for themselves, and their life is immediately improved. That's what happened to me. "

Ian Mckellen

Who

Happened

" Actors don't, in fact, retire, do they? It took me a while to remember that. "

Ian Mckellen

Took

Remember

" Establishing the rights for gay people to be married would cost the Australian government nothing financially and would gain for you worldwide respect from people like us and, of course, would change lives enormously - the lives of gay people and of their friends and of their families and therefore of Australia as a whole. "

" I learned that coming out was crucial to self-esteem. "

" There's no sex in Middle Earth. "

" I get pretty grumpy about TV. "

Ian Mckellen

Get

About

" You mustn't upstage the bride. "

Ian Mckellen

Bride

You

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" When I appeared in 'Coronation Street,' I lived in Manchester and enjoyed it very much. "

" 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. "

Ian Mckellen

Believe

Chef

" I quite like it when I'm on the Tube and people offer me their seat. Sometimes I take it. The other day I was offered a seat by a pregnant lady. I thought, 'That's going a bit far.' "

Ian Mckellen

People

Day

" 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. "

" You always think that 70 is the end of the road: 'Somebody died when they were 73; good life'. You're closer to death, and you better make sure you don't waste too much of your time doing things you don't want to do. No point in saying things you don't believe in. "

" 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. "

" Imagine trying to be a gay actor, a gay anything in modern Russia? Where to be positively oneself, to be affectionate in public with someone you love of the same gender, or to talk of that love in the hearing of anyone under 18, will put you prison? "

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

Ian Mckellen

English

Eccentric

" In any human-rights campaign, everybody must do what they can. "