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" When I was playing Gandalf, I didn't think, 'Oh my dear, I'm playing a 7,000 year old wizard,' because I've never met one, and I don't know what they're like. "
Ian Mckellen
Year
Never
Old
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" There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of them is that I've got better as an actor. I've learnt how to do it. And I still have enough energy to do it. "
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" In any human-rights campaign, everybody must do what they can. "
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" I think I've become more modest as the years have gone on. "
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" If you get criticized, good - I don't think people get criticized enough. People talk behind your back and they criticize you, but they don't often come up and say it to you. "
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" I certainly don't disparage someone whose attitude towards their work is utterly different from mine - that's up to them. "
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" I have little routines in the theater. Once I've established something, like the order of putting on makeup and a costume, I have to invariably do it in the same order every time, even if I only did it by chance the first time round. "
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" Most actors are not rich - they are very poor indeed. What keeps them going is that they just love the job. "
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" What's upsetting about an autobiography is that the final chapter is always missing. I mean, you want the death, don't you? "
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" I like sleeping a lot. "
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" Gandalf is ever-present in my life. I like it. "
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" What I particularly like about Broadway is the camaraderie and the friendship of other people in other shows. Everybody knows you're opening and cares about you. There's a real village atmosphere. "
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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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" 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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" Until I came out, my acting was all about disguise, and thereafter it became about telling the truth. "
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" So it's joyful to me, in my 71st year, to be able to be in a play that is absolutely right for my age and my experience, and that is a popular success. What more could you ask as an actor? "
Ian Mckellen
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" When we'd suggested doing it, the Theatre Royal management had said, 'Nobody wants to see Waiting for Godot.' As it happened, every single ticket was booked for every single performance, and this confirmation that our judgment was right was sweet. Audiences came to us from all over the world. It was amazing. "
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" 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. "
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" In the U.K. there is still work to be done, particularly in schools, stopping the homophobic bullies in the playground and introducing unbiased discussion on gay issues in the classroom. "
Ian Mckellen
Done
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Classroom
" Gandalf is in Middle-earth to keep an eye on everybody, and that can be a rather serious matter. "
Ian Mckellen
Keep
Serious
Eye
" Gandalf saves the world and saves the soul of the world, really. "
Ian Mckellen
World
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Really
" 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. "
Ian Mckellen
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" Anyone in public life who comes out, comes out primarily for themselves, and their life is immediately improved. That's what happened to me. "
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" If we just made one movie, 'The Hobbit,' the fact is that all the fans, the eight-, nine- and 10-year-old boys, they would watch it 1,000 times. Now, they've got three films they can watch 1,000 times. "
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" To be allowed for the first time in your later career to play leading parts in extremely popular movies is not a situation to worry about. "
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" No actor wants to play to an empty house. "
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" 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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" Some relationships get easier as you get older, depending on what sort of person you are. I don't think I've got any better at them. "
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" I was a shy gay man at a time when it was illegal to be gay. "
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" People who are truly horrible are often the most interesting people in the room. You look at them and just say, 'Why?' "
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" I can't make up my mind whether I want to dance like Josef Brown or dance with Josef Brown. "
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