Ian McKellan: Truth and Consequences

When he begins talking about closeted gay actors who enter into sham marriages or demurely deflect speculation about their private lives, McKellen takes a hard line. "I feel sorry for them," he says. "There is no career, there is no success worth having if the price you pay is to lie about something so crucial to your nature. Get another job. Actors are doing a job which involves telling the truth about human nature. How can you do it properly if you can't tell the truth to your next-door neighbor or your employer?"

McKellen points out that his own career has not suffered one whit since he came out. "Quite deliberately, the first job I took after I came out was to play John Profumo in Scandal," he says. "His most famous characteristic is that he was a raging heterosexual. Since then I've played a lot of straight men. I had love scenes with Greta Scacchi in Rasputin. It's acting. People say it's different when you're dealing with teenyboppers and their longings for a sex symbol. But do those kids have to be lied to? I think kids are more hip than we sometimes realize. Brad Renfro has no problems with gay people. He's not gay himself, but he knows there are more important things in life than caring about whether someone is going to come on to him. He'll deal with that, don't you worry."

In recent years, McKellen has urged some of his closeted actor friends to come out. "They're not so much worried that their careers will come to a full stop, because they see that hasn't happened to me," he says. "But they think, 'My God, am I going to have to talk about it as much as Ian McKellen does?' Of course not. I just happen to be a sort of bigmouth who's interested in politics and is persuaded that I can be of help. But I can assure you I spend more time worrying about my career than I do worrying about gay activism."

Right now McKellen is pleased with the momentum his career is generating, and he enjoys his increased visibility. "I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the Queen of England," he says slyly. "But to be a Hollywood movie star, oh dear, no. I couldn't cope with that. I would, however, like to work with the very best people in the industry. When I did Restoration with Robert Downey Jr., I was in total awe of him. He and Johnny Depp and Sean Penn are big, wonderful, individualistic performers. It's thrilling to be able to work with them."

The veteran actor was also impressed with Brendan Fraser, who costars in Gods and Monsters as a hunky gardener who entrances James Whale. "I didn't appreciate Brendan's performance while it was happening," McKellen says. "I've talked to somebody who worked with Marilyn Monroe and they said the same was true of her. You couldn't see what she was doing on the set. You could only see it through the camera or on the screen. When I saw Gods and Monsters, I realized that Brendan knows exactly how to present himself. He'll always give the director a lot to choose from in that beautiful face. Shadows and thoughts drift across it which you can't really see until you're examining him in a way that it would be impolite to do in real life. When I look at Brendan Fraser, I see the whole person. But the camera's just looking at his left eye, and Brendan knows that."

McKellen's two newest Hollywood films--and the Oscar buzz that Gods and Monsters has generated--have convinced him that while many actors his age are moving toward retirement, he's actually replenishing his talent. "It is a very nice feeling when you're coming up to 60 to think, 'I'm a better actor than I was at 20,'" he says. "I'm of the generation that was told there was such a thing as the prime of life. I like to believe that right now I'm in my prime of life."

_____________________________________

Stephen Farber interviewed screenwriter Ron Bass for the October 98 issue of Movieline.

Pages: 1 2