# Sir Ian McKellen has performed the impossible. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112 "2003-05-23T21:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/41 "2003-05-25T20:28:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMark \* > \*\*Get out of OC and back to LA. > After you live there for awhile, the law of averages lets you meet a lot of people in television and films. \*\* Alas, the law of averages doesn’t work well for me. I lived in the LA area from '84 to when I moved out to college a couple of years ago (and still go back frequently), but the most famous people I’ve actually spoken to are the writer Diana Gabaldon (friend of my mom’s) and one of the dancers from the original _A Chorus Line_ (I was working at Borders and he saw that the soundtrack was in the bargain bin!). Even the few autographed books I have were signed at book signings I couldn’t make it to. From everything I’ve seen of him, Sir Ian sounds like an incredible guy, and he is an absolutely amazing (and attractive, since I’m alliterating) actor. I’d give my left nut to have him autograph my beat-up stage copy of _Macbeth_ (the one that’s already been autographed “Best wifhef W. Shakesfpear” by Terry Pratchett 😃 ). And my copy of the _Richard III_ screenplay. And, I dunno, my tits or something. Okay, now I’m gonna slinnk outta this thread and quit cluttering it up like a good little drooling obsessive fan … ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/42 "2003-05-25T20:41:18Z")
I’m with Chronos about Shakespeare - it wasn’t academic stuff, although it was written in kind of an upper-class form. If you look at modern romantic comedies, they’re not very different from some of Shakespeare’s work in many basic ways. I briefly met Sir Ian once. The mother and I had just seen him and Helen Mirren in _Dance of Death_ (REAL fun show ;)), and we waited out by the stage doors for autographs - and to say hello to one of my favorite actors. By coincidence, I’d found what I thought was a great joke in the new edition of The New Yorker, and I wanted to see his reaction to it. The cartoon was something like “Announcements You Don’t Want to See in Your Playbill.” The funniest one was “This evening, the role normally played by Sir Ian McKellen will be filled by the man who played Isaac on ‘The Loveboat.’” 😃 I thought the joke rocked. Unfortunately, Sir Ian didn’t get it. Not the right age, or nationality, I suppose. Ah well. Either way, it’s a story (and I guess it went better than my meeting with Arthur Miller), and I did get to tell him he was great or whatever. Perhaps next time - I mean, he’s got to come to Broadway again eventually, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/43 "2003-05-25T21:02:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*I’ve heard it said that Shakespeare was the Steven Spielberg of his day. OK, so maybe Spielberg isn’t as talanted, but the point is that old Bill was in the business of producing entertainment for the people. Sometimes it’s dramatic, sometimes it’s slapstick, sometimes it’s blood and gore, but his goal is always to entertain. > > …And people haven’t changed much in a few hundred years. What entertained folks then, still entertains folks now.\*\* Yes, but the same could also be said for Marlowe (who was _tremendously_ popular in his day, and is probably still the most widely read non-Shakespearean Renaissance dramatist), Dekker, Middleton, Peele, Chapman, Webster, Beaumont and Fletcher, and just about anyone you can name – except perhaps Ben Jonson, who was pretty self-consciously trying to reform public tastes, or at least had little regard for them. 😉 And their stuff is generally not widely read or performed today, except by specialists. What _is_ it about Shakespeare, anyway? (I have a book on this phenomenon, actually – _Reinventing Shakespeare_ by Gary Taylor – which focuses on how Shakespeare came to be the cornerstone of the western canon. But a lot of Taylor’s work sets my teeth on edge. ;)) **Marley** – I don’t see why you couldn’t have an older Antonio, actually… And since I haven’t contributed enough to the McKellen-drooling in this thread: **drools** 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/44 "2003-05-25T23:11:36Z")
I actually think Keanu could have worked in the role of Don John, but Brannagh wanted the character to be genuinely evil and menacing. If they’d played the character as a buffoon with a stupid plan, I think Keanu could have pulled it off. Sort of an evil, Renaissance version of Ted from Bill & Ted. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/45 "2003-05-26T13:23:14Z")
**Banger** , thanks for the recommendation on _The Scarlet Pimpernel_. This is a favorite story of mine, so I went to the aforementioned video rental website and found the exact version you’re remembering, and put it on my wish list. Both you and the website do not mention who portrays Percy Blakeney; do you recall? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/46 "2003-05-26T13:56:00Z")
DMark writes: \> He [Ian McKellen] loved doing the films, is proud of his work, \> and feels if nothing else he has done remains popular, that \> trilogy will keep his name alive for generations after he dies. Guinastasia writes: \> Are you serious? WOW-that’s so cool! Ian McKellen ROCKS. McKellen discussed how much he liked the Peter Jackson movies of _The Lord of the Rings_ in many interviews during and after the filming. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/47 "2003-05-26T14:00:47Z")
That would be Anthony Andrews. ---
**Author:** ![Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@Bren\_Cameron\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bren_Cameron_1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/48 "2003-05-26T14:02:42Z")
_thbbpt!_ Wendell’s post wasn’t there when I pulled the page up–I knew I should have quoted, but I said, hey, it’s just the post before, no sweat. Percy Blakeney is played by Anthony Andrews, in the Scarlet Pimpernell mentioned. Once you’ve checked that out, give Ivanhoe (with James Mason, Anthony Andrews in the title role, and Sam Niel) a whirl. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/49 "2003-05-26T18:19:20Z")
Quoth **Dragonblink** : > [@](#): > > I’d give my left nut. . . And, I dunno, my tits or something. At least one of us is confused, here. Or do I really want to know? And **Katisha** , I never said that Shakespeare was the _only_ guy who was entertaining the masses. The obvious difference between Shakespeare and Marlowe, Dekker, _et al_ is that Shakespeare is the best. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/50 "2003-05-26T18:52:10Z")
I’ve been a big fan of Sir Ian’s since **Gods and Monsters**. It has one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve ever heard and he conveys it perfectly. About six months ago I read a quote from him commenting on a new Ian McKellan postal stamp being issued. He was thrilled at the thought of all these people licking his backside. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/51 "2003-05-26T20:17:52Z")
> [@](#): > > About six months ago I read a quote from him commenting on a new Ian McKellan postal stamp being issued. He was thrilled at the thought of all these people licking his backside. Haha, god save that Queen. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/52 "2003-05-27T01:28:30Z")
Years ago, I flipped on PBS and caught him performing his “Acting Shakespeare” show, and spent the next hour riveted by his discussion of acting technique and the playwright. One of the highlights was his long discussion of the “Tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow” scene from Macbeth. It was a wonderful way to experience Shakespeare, being taught without being condescended to. He’s also a pretty nifty Magneto, too. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/53 "2003-05-27T03:31:45Z")
Sir Ian McKellen is also incredibly funny. I watched the Saturday Night Live he hosted a little more than a year and a half ago, and I don’t remember ever laughing so hard at SNL. Also, his interview on Behind the Actors’ Studio had me glued to the TV. Sigh…What a wonderful man. ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/54 "2003-05-27T03:44:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pesch \* > \*\* > > He’s also a pretty nifty Magneto, too. \*\* I’ll second that. I saw X2 yesterday, and even though I know Sir Ian McKellen is openly gay, I couldn’t get over how sexy he came across as Magneto. Or am I the only one here who saw him that way? Whatever. I still feel like jumping his bones. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/55 "2003-05-27T13:58:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragonblink \*(edited) > \*\*I’d give my left nut to have him autograph my beat-up stage copy of _Macbeth_ . And my copy of the _Richard III_ screenplay. And, I dunno, my tits or something. \*\* When this happens, will you take pictures and post them? Please? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/56 "2003-05-28T07:54:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JessEnigma \* > \*\*And more’s the pity for it, too. That version of _Much Ado About Nothing_ is good…except for Keanu. “I’m a bad guy, so I must scowl. And maybe try pitifully for some bad-guyness while saying my lines. But mostly scowl.” Bah. \*\* [sub]I actually really liked Keanu in _Much Ado About Nothing_… I’ll go away now.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![HDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/bb73d2/32.png) [@HDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HDS)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/57 "2003-05-28T10:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I couldn’t get over how sexy he came across as Magneto. Or am I the only one here who saw him that way? Nope. Mwaaaaaa _purr_ I bought the first one to rewatch it. Halfway through my husband said, “You bought this because he’s in it!” ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/58 "2003-05-28T15:49:17Z")
Yet another Sharkspere/LotR film A few years ago on Oscar night PBS aired a production of King Lear. It starred _(I should be shot for not remembering his name)_ the fellow who played Bilbo Baggins in PJ’s LotR.IIRC it was a BBC production. Perhaps you could find it in a video store, or even a library? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/59 "2003-05-28T17:30:30Z")
Yes, you should be, because Ian Holm rocked the house in that production. I had it on tape and was foolish enough to kindly donate it to my high school drama company’s video library - where doubtless no one even knows it’s there, let alone appreciates it. 😛 By the way, I saw X2 again over the weekend. I didn’t notice _the wink_ before. Definitely a highlight of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112/60 "2003-05-28T19:06:43Z")
He winks in Two Towers, too. Possibly a recurring thing? Let’s roll all of Ian McKellan’s filmography, looking for winks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sir-ian-mckellen-has-performed-the-impossible/177112.md?page=4)