Who does understand life?
From Ian Mckellen
I have lots of fans, they are mostly under the age of 12, boys and girls.
Gandalf's a good guy, and it's a good part. He says the right things, he believes the right things. An actor can have fun with it.
There's lots of Tolkien that must be confusing to people.
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.
Even now, there are young actors who want careers as romantic leading men, and the best thing is not to reveal you're gay.
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.
There is a fantasy as old as the modern gay rights movement that if all our skins turned lavender overnight, the majority, confounded by our numbers and our diversity, and recognising a few of our faces, would at once let go of prejudice forevermore.
There have been many gay knights in the past - like Sir Noel Coward or Sir John Gielgud.
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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