Lan McKellen

But, long before, Ian McKellen had already left his mark on the world of acting. He is one of those purebred actors who are born from time to time on British soil and who are forged in theaters of the highest lineage, along the lines of the now legendary Laurence Olivier , Alec Guinness or John Gielgud . And he is so similar to those teachers that, like them, Ian McKellen also obtained the title of Sir, as befits his appointment as Knight of the British Empire, received in 1990 from Queen Elizabeth II.

Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley (Great Britain), the son of an engineer and a housewife. It seems that the boy was clear about what he wanted to do, since, according to what they say, at the early age of 13 he participated in his first play, “Twelfth Night”. Already taller, he decided to study dramatic art and classical theater at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with the highest grades. After a few jobs for television –which even included a version of “ David Copperfield ” in 1966–, and due to his great fondness for declaiming on stage, he did not make his film debut until 1969, at the age of 30, a certainly late age. for current uses. The film in question was the drama A Touch Love. From that moment on, Ian’s career progressed unstoppably in various fields, film, television and theater. On the small screen he appeared in 1970 in numerous works that come from British literature, such as Edward II , based on the story written by Christopher Marlowe or The Tragedy of King Richard II and Hamlet , by Shakespere. That same year she also played the romantic poet John Keats. Also in the 1970s, he participated in several episodes of the hit series Play of the Month , which aired for almost twenty years. In it he coincided with famous actors from his country, such as John Gielgud, Helen Mirren , Edward Fox orMaggie Smith . She later got into the skin of the manipulated protagonist of Macbeth (1979). In the eighties her television stage continued, but her presence on the big screen also consolidated. He stood out in a television version of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) and in the drama Walter and June (1983), directed by Stephen Frears , and even that same year he entered the slippery terrain of the horror thriller with El torreón , a peculiar film from the then-first-timer Michael Mann ( Collateral ). Little by little, her secondary roles began to multiply in films that were often uneven, and even unsuccessful, such as Plenty .(1985), Scandal (1988) or The Last Great Hero (1992). But McKellen did not forget where he came from either and from time to time he gave himself the pleasure of returning to the English bard, as in Othello (1990) or Ricardo III (1995), in a version written by himself.

From the nineties the name of Ian McKellen began to be better known by the general public. It had to do with his greater presence in more commercial Hollywood films, but also with the fact that he made his homosexuality public since the media will disproportionately exploit the news and make him a champion of the gay community, something that he – it must be said – has carried on since then, both on the social level and on the cinematographic one. Among his productions from that period, Restoration (1995), Robert Poste’s Daughter (1995) and Gods and Monsters (1998) stand out. This last film meant the definitive consecration of him, since the interpretation of him by the controversial film director James Whaleearned him his first Oscar nomination. Due to his dramatic intensity, his haunting look and his lean face, McKellen has proven to be a great villain on the screen and many films have taken advantage of that facet, such as Summer of Corruption (1998) and, above all, the X-Men saga. , where he plays the leader of the “bad” mutants, Magneto. And then came the role for which he will surely be remembered throughout his life, that of the wizard Gandalf in the trilogy started with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring . His composition is simply perfect, of overwhelming solidity and conviction, and for it he was nominated for the second Oscar. Now, after his participation in the disappointing The Da Vinci Code, the veteran actor continues to work at full capacity, with the preparation of the thriller The Colossus , along with Colin Firth , and Susan Sarandon . And the filming of Magneto has already been announced , a film that will deal with the youth of the character in the mutant saga started by Bryan Singer .