Skip to content

I think this is why a lot of actors, at least in the past, have been gay: the only place where they could be themselves, express themselves, at a time when it was illegal [...] to be homosexual, was in public, protected by the play. You could come up with real emotions for real situations but not of course your own.

— Ian McKellen

Another quote →

More quotes by Ian McKellen

Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don't exist.

Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world.

Heterosexuality is far too interesting a phenomenon to be ignored.

I think this country will be a healthier place if people in public life who are gay, announce that they are gay and left it at that so that the majority in society would understand that homosexuals are their friends, their supporters and a major contribution to the cultural and healthy life of this nation.

[I]n the theatre, life is happening now. That's Falstaff's first word: "Now!" It's not reported life, it's life right there.

All Ian McKellen quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ian McKellen (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.