Ian McKellen was one of the most recognizable actors of the early 2000s,
having instantly cemented himself as a geek icon with his performances as Gandalf the Grey
and Magneto. Today, though, he's not so much of a presence in Hollywood. So just where has he gone?
When actors are young, they tend to be hungry for creative and professional validation,
and often have to work incredibly hard to establish their career. When actors are older,
however - or more comfortable financially - they usually have different priorities.
Considering the number of major films Ian McKellen has starred in over the past 20 years alone,
it's probably safe to assume that he's pretty financially well-off.
As such, he doesn't have to take every part offered to him. In fact, if he doesn't want to,
he probably doesn't have to take any parts at all, and can simply spend his time however he sees fit.
It's also worth pointing out that McKellen is now more than 80 years old. Working in Hollywood
isn't easy even when you're young, and it's entirely possible that the rigors of film and
television production are simply more difficult for him than they might have been 20 years ago.
Nobody can say for sure, of course, but it's definitely not impossible
that McKellen neither wants nor needs to be working quite as much as he used to.
As a senior citizen with a history of prostate cancer, Ian McKellen is part
of a segment of the population that is more susceptible than most to COVID-19.
So if McKellen seemed like he kept a low profile during much of 2020, he had a pretty good reason.
Thankfully, McKellen received his first shot of the COVID vaccine in December 2020.
As a senior citizen, McKellen was among the first in line for a first dose of the vaccination.
"I feel very special and it's a very happy day, this, I'm a bit euphoric."
In a press release issued shortly afterwards, McKellen said:
"I feel honored to have received the COVID-19 vaccine and I would urge anyone who is offered
the vaccine to take up the offer [...] I really hope that, as more people get vaccinated,
we will move further along the path back to a more normal way of life,
particularly for the arts which have suffered so much this year."
Infinitum: Subject Unknown is the kind of film that could only have been produced during the
2020 lockdown. It's a time-loop story in the vein of Groundhog Day and Palm Springs,
shot with just an iPhone and almost solely carried by Tori Butler-Hart.
So far, so unremarkable, right? Well,
Infinitum does have at least one surprising thing going for it - a cameo by Sir Ian
McKellen. His character largely appears in some in-universe documentary footage,
which conveniently allowed McKellen to shoot his role from the comfort and safety of his own home.
So there you have it - if anyone tells you Ian McKellen spent his lockdown twiddling his thumbs,
Infinitum is evidence to the contrary.
Although Ian McKellen's film and television acting career began in the mid-1960s,
if you ask the average movie fan the one word that pops to mind when they hear his name,
odds are they'll answer, "Gandalf."
"You shall not pass!"
Peter Jackson's films based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien - and especially The Lord of the Rings -
left a long-lasting impression on blockbuster cinema and pop culture. Indeed, it seems fair to
suggest that a number of the most successful fantasy properties of the last two decades
would never have seen the light of day were it not for the success of The Lord of the Rings.
As the wizard Gandalf the Grey, and later Gandalf the White,
McKellen serves as a kind of mentor to the story's protagonists. He also features in
some of the trilogy's most iconic scenes - including the battle against the Balrog of Moria,
the defense of Minas Tirith, and the last stand at the gates of Mordor.
Of course, those movies came out 20 years ago, and the onscreen adventures
of Gandalf finally came to a close with The Battle of the Five Armies back in 2014.
Since McKellen's signature role has effectively been exhausted,
he simply isn't going to be as visible in the pop culture zeitgeist as he once was.
Any comic book movie fan will tell you that it's very rare indeed for a character to be
solely associated with just one actor. It was only inevitable, then, that the legendary X-Men
villain Magneto would carry on his big-screen adventures with an actor other than Ian McKellen.
After recognizing the failure of 2006's X-Men:
The Last Stand and the limitations of a gradually ageing cast,
Fox decided to give their X-Men universe a soft reboot in 2011, with the prequel X-Men:
First Class. For this movie, Michael Fassbender officially took over the role of Erik Lehnsherr.
Fassbender played Magneto for eight years, until a corporate buyout necessitated that X-Men:
Dark Phoenix be the final installment in Fox's X-Men universe. A time travel-oriented storyline
allowed McKellen a brief return in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past,
but for all intents and purposes, he gave up the role of Magneto a long time ago. And now,
with Marvel Studios moving forward with their own version of the X-Men sometime in the near future,
you probably shouldn't expect to see McKellen reprise his other iconic role any time soon.
Since movies only tend to run for a couple of hours,
it can be easy to forget just how much time and effort goes into producing and promoting them.
To put it in perspective, films with the budget and scope of, say, an X-Men movie
generally require about six months to shoot. Once you throw in all the contractually-obligated
promotional appearances typically required of a starring actor, you can probably figure
that the cast have to devote a good year of their lives to any single project. So,
if you add up the three movies in the X-Men trilogy, plus Days of Future Past,
it appears that Ian McKellen has dedicated around four years to playing a single character.
And The Lord of the Rings required an even greater commitment than that.
As McKellen recently told GQ:
"I think [...] some of the actors who would have been offered it before me were rather
put off by the idea of having to live in New Zealand for a year."
Again, you've got all that time shooting, plus the promo tours, all stretching from 2001 to
2003 and beyond - and then he did the whole thing all over again with The Hobbit a decade later.
If anybody's earned a break from starring in tentpole blockbuster franchises, it's this guy.
As you may have noticed, it's not the mid-'00s anymore - which means that Ian
McKellen's tenure as one of the world's most visible movie stars has probably come and gone.
But that doesn't mean he hasn't been getting any work.
First, of course, you've got Cats. Along with a huge cast of fellow A-listers,
McKellen shows up in the widely and colorfully criticized adaptation of the hit stage musical.
And while it definitely isn't enough to save the film, his performance as Gus the Theater
Cat is guaranteed to delight fans of the musical, young kids, and stoners alike.
McKellen also appears in 2019's The Good Liar, a modestly-budgeted con artist thriller
directed by Bill Condon, also starring Helen Mirren. Though hardly a smash hit,
The Good Liar racked up a 63 percent fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating,
which means, at the very least, that critics liked it a heck of a lot more than Cats. In the movie,
McKellen plays a grifter who attempts to liberate a large sum of money from Mirren's character
via a disingenuous romance. And sure, it's not the best movie in the world, but the two stars
at least seem to be at the top of their game. As The Observer noted in its review of the movie:
"The way they listen, look into each other’s eyes, absorb each word and every silence,
while sipping a flute of champagne or sharing a cup of tea - it’s a revelation, and a master class
in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the same time. Together, they redefine rapture."
While most people associate Ian McKellen with his acting roles,
for a few decades now he has also been a leading activist in the UK's LGBT community. Back in the
late 1980s, the Section 28 law made discussing homosexuality in schools illegal, and McKellen - a
famous U.K. actor even before his later hit movies - came out in the media in protest.
"I've never met a gay person who regrets coming out."
Since then, he has co-founded the Stonewall charity organization,
and now serves as a patron for multiple other LGBT rights groups. In his interview with GQ,
McKellen spoke about his ongoing activism, telling the publication:
"I do hear people say, 'When I was growing up,
there were never any transgender people about.' Well, there were,
you just didn't notice them. And that was exactly what they used to say about gay people."
When an actor who was once prevalent in Hollywood makes fewer and fewer appearances in movies,
you might assume they're having difficulty getting
work. Sometimes that's true, of course, but in this case, you'd be way off base.
For McKellen, recent years have seen him spending more time than ever on the stage.
For example, between 2015 and 2020, McKellen played the lead role in multiple productions
of King Lear, co-starred in a production of No Man's Land alongside Patrick Stewart,
and even pulled off a spoken word comedy show.
While American moviegoers might think Ian McKellen begins and ends with Gandalf and Magneto,
it's quite a different story on the other side of the pond. In the UK,
he's more like an actor who begins and ends with the theater…
and makes a little room for Gandalf and Magneto, every now and then.
Hamlet Revenant was first announced back in 2017, and it doesn't appear as though a ton
of progress has been made since. Nonetheless, the movie-to-be sits at the very top of Ian
McKellen's IMDb page - which cites the film as still being in pre-production.
According to Variety, Hamlet Revenant is an "original adaptation" of the legendary
Shakespeare play. McKellen's role is unconfirmed so far, but Connie Nielsen of Wonder Woman fame
is signed on as Gertrude, alongside Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as the titular angst-ridden prince.
With any luck, Hamlet Revenant will come together sometime soon. Hollywood hasn't really committed
to Shakespeare since the '90s, and the world is long overdue for a few new spins on the Bard's
classics. And who better to lead the charge than one of the great Shakespearean actors of his time?
The character of Hamlet is generally depicted as a younger man; in fact,
he's occasionally cited as a straight-up metaphor for adolescence. But is that going to stop
Ian McKellen from picking up poor Yorick's skull and giving the role his all? Heck no.
Originally delayed by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Theatre Royal Windsor's
production of Hamlet is scheduled to run from June to September of 2021,
which should keep McKellen, in his capacity as the titular depressed prince, very busy indeed.
Of course, you might argue that McKellen's age might make Hamlet's youthful struggles
a little more difficult to believe. Then again, it could be that his age will do wonders for the
kind of existential dread that's so crucial for a really great performance of the infamous Dane.
Whatever the case, McKellen sounded optimistic in the show's press release, in which he said:
"How can Hamlet be played by an 80 year old? I hope
theatre-starved audiences will want to find out!"
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