Can Ian McKellan Say Anything That Does Not Sound Like The Divine Word Of God?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:21pm

I was pondering what it would be like if he were to be the Narrator of Fight Club or if he were in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or something.

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:23pm

I have no idea, I do know that he scares me

[meggsison]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 1:31pm

He is a very interesting person. I remember when Harry Potter wanted him to take over Dumbledore for Richard Harris. I probably would have ran out of the theater screaming if he was Dumbledore. Spooky.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 2:18pm

I love that man. Fantastic actor, and not afraid to say what he thinks, and yet at the same time a class act. Not an easy feat to pull off.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 5:45pm

I do too and I'm not criticizing him for having such a strong voice.

But imagine him playing Princeton in Avenue Q or something...

"WHAT DO YOU GET WITH A B.A. IN ENGLISH?!?!?!?!"

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 7:54pm

Enjoyed him in Da Vinci & Gods & Monsters

Have seen none of the X Men movies

[loudasthehelliwant]

Posted: 5/29/06 at 8:14pm

I ADORE him. I love the title of this thread (but of course, the answer would be no).

[Andrew Lowe Watson]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 5:50am

Ian is wonderful on stage. His one-man show Acting Shakespeare was brilliant. I remember the way he did the Scottish Play was spine-chilling.

I find his screen performances a pale shadow of his live work. LIke Olivier, who I didn't see live, he doesn't really know how to act for the camera. It is all too grand manner and camp.

Compare him with Brando, Pacino. Jack Lemmon even. They do much less to achieve more.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 5/30/06 at 12:47pm

I don't know what my problem is, but I always confuse Ian McKellan, Michael Gambon, and John Hurt. I can usually figure it out after awhile, but they all look a lot alike!

Has anyone seen McKellan in Cold Comfort Farm? He plays a very zealous preacher. It's incredibly funny because he does sound like God.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 3:49am

I love that man. Fantastic actor, and not afraid to say what he thinks, and yet at the same time a class act. Not an easy feat to pull off.

And he does a mean Dame Judi Dench, too.
Scroll to March 2002

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 11:28am

Did you mean as Maggie Smith? I found him to be brilliant in God's and Monsters, and I actually didn't mind whatsisname - Brendan Fraser in it either, for once.

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 3:43pm

Sir Ian is seriously incredible. And to answer your question, no. I love his voice, so powerful. I remember I went to www.lordoftherings.net once, and they have the actors on a sound clip greeting you in the background. His voice came booming out of my speakers. I thought it was God.
Updated On: 5/7/07 at 03:43 PM

[cheezedoodle]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 7:18pm

I don't know - get him to say "Ride me daddy", and I will get back to you.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 4:40pm

In terms of British men with divine voices, I'm gonna have to go with Alan Rickman. Sexiest voice EVER. And he has actually played the voice of God.

[keen on kean]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 4:40pm

I saw him in Amadeus in 1980 - beautiful voice then, too, but physically quite attractive in those days.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 4:49pm

Colleen, thank you so much for that. So effing funny. I am dying.

[TheHumanTorch]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 8:59pm

that is so so funny

[slimandslam]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 10:11pm

I've seen him twice on stage, both times in L.A. in the '90s.

The first time was as Richard III. Excellent performance, but I thought the production only came alive during one particular scene (the "teach me how to curse" scene towards the end of Act IV), and McKellen wasn't on stage during that. (This production eventually led to the movie, which was both more coherent and more ridiculous.)

The second time was in An Enemy of the People. We were sitting in the front row for that. It was a deeply schizophrenic production. The rest of the cast was doing a quiet, intense domestic drama... and in the middle of it all was IAN McKELLEN, ACTING TO THE SECOND BALCONY! (I guess it's a valid dramatic interpretation of the part of Stockman; he's full of himself and oblivious to the way that his iron-willed confidence could ruin the town and devastate his family. However, that valid dramatic interpretation is indistinguishable from a showy star turn that has nothing to do with the play.)

I left both of these productions thinking that perhaps I had witnessed a revival of an actor-manager touring company of the early part of the 20th century.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 5/7/07 at 11:19pm

"I don't know - get him to say "Ride me daddy", and I will get back to you."

ROFL, there's my tea all over the desk