Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.

Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:33pm

McKellen urges gay actors to come out

Wednesday, August 10 2005, 18:53 BST -- by Neil Wilkes

Sir Ian McKellen has urged gay actors to come out of the closet in order to improve their careers.

The Lord of the Rings star, who is openly gay, believes that those who pretend to be straight are actually damaging their chances of success.

"By the time I came out, I was in my late 40s and I was fed up with worrying about what other people thought, and confident enough in my career to suspect that it wasn't going to make any difference at all. I was absolutely wrong," WENN quote the 66-year-old as saying.

"I became a better actor, and my film career took off in a way that I couldn't have expected. You can't lie about something so central to yourself without harming yourself.

"Acting in my case is no longer about disguise - it's about telling the truth, and my truth is that I'm gay. I'm very happy for people to know that, and then I can get on with telling the truth about the character that I'm playing.

"That's why I can say to other actors: if you really want to be a good actor and a successful one, and you're gay, let everybody know about it."
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds23345.html

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:36pm

I love you, Ian McKellen.

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:37pm

Go Ian!

Deet: Shira, I Love You!

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:37pm

Go Ian indeed. But the words dead, horse and flogging spring to mind.

Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:39pm

great sentiment, but i doubt it would work for the heath ledger's, jake gyllenhall's and hayden christensen's of the world that play romantic leads in films.

XING
PED

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:39pm

Really, pop?

Cause the words 'vitamins' and 'exercise' are what come to my mind!

"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:41pm

Tee hee robbie

Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:41pm

oh yeah, what does this have to do with george bush?

XING
PED

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:44pm

I just had a vision of Sir Ian in a Glinda costume singing:

"Come out, come out, wherever you are...
And meet the young lady who fell from a star..."

#10

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:44pm

Ok. Fine.

I'm and actor. And, I'm GAY GAY GAY!

johnraymondbarker.com

#11

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:45pm

even your dog knows your gay.

XING
PED

#12

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:47pm

Jerby, you're gay? Well this is a turn up for the books.

Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.

#13

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:47pm

I haven't seen Rosie's acting improve any, but perhaps that's just me.

Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

#14

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 4:47pm

THAT"S what I'm talking about!

#15

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:01pm

robbiej - Correction: Vitamins and excerise are apparently the cure for being gay. Look how well it works.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#16

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:04pm

Rath--if Rosie's good as Golde, I want you to eat your hat.

#17

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:05pm

Rathnait, how long have you had such a problem with women? Especially other lesbians? I mean, not including a select few with cobwebs where their ovaries used to be? It's a theme that comes up again and again with you. I know there were some mommy problems in your formative years and you're on the psychotropics, but please, give the lesbian performers a break from what reads like misogyny to this feminist.

Twitter @NamoInExile Instagram none

#18

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:07pm

I will, happily, PJ.

Namo, overreact much?

Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson

#19

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:12pm

johnraymondbarker.com

#20

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:15pm

I don't think it's possible for Ian McKellen to get any more fantastic. I love this man! And frankly, I don't care if Heath Ledger does come out and say he's gay. A hot man is still a hot man. And I will still swoon over him. Anthony Rapp has been out since '92 and men and women still freakin adore him. (Granted, he does not often play the the straight heartthrob.) The only people who will really care are the hideous right-wing conservative pricks and the teenage girls.

#21

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:16pm

Does anyone here have Kevin Spacey's Email?

"Christ, Bette Davis?!?!"

#22

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:20pm

So acting chops are tested and improve. How postively Uta Hagen technique.

How about a remake of DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES with Jodie Foster and Kevin Spacey.

A remake of AMERICAN GIGOLO with Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis? Yikes, wait--they already made a movie.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

#23

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:24pm

Heath Ledger is gay? When the hell did that happen?

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

#24

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:26pm

Heath is gay?!

#25

re: Ian McKellen Urges Gay Actors to Come Out

Posted: 8/10/05 at 5:30pm

I always thought Anne Heche's acting was better during the Ellen years. Now I know why.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

← Back to Message Board

View all Videos

Tickets From $59

Tickets From $70

Tickets From $59

Tickets From $101