I think New York audiences are some of the brightest in the world, and certainly the most enthusiastic. - Ian McKellen
I think the point to be understood is that we're all different. I've never been a fan of theories of acting. I didn't go to drama school, so I was never put through a training that was limited by someone saying, 'This is the way you should act.' - Ian McKellen
I think with Shakespeare you can be required to do absolutely anything at the turn of a sixpence - suddenly you go into a battle, suddenly you utter something passionate. - Ian McKellen
I used to comfort myself when I became an actor that it was a useful job, entertaining people. And it was important to do it as well as you possibly can. - Ian McKellen
I used to think 'King Lear' was an analysis of insanity, but I don't really think it is. When Lear is supposed to be at his most insane, he is actually understanding the world for the first time. - Ian McKellen
I was brought up in industrial south Lancashire, down the cobbled road from where LS Lowry (1887 - 1976) lived and painted. - Ian McKellen
I'd never read 'Lord of the Rings' until I was asked to play Gandalf, so I didn't really know it was a frightfully famous book. - Ian McKellen
If I have any audience, they can know that anything I am in, I would go see, with the expectation of being really satisfied. - Ian McKellen
If I say often enough that I'm going to be in 'King Kong,' I'm hoping that Peter Jackson will take the hint. - Ian McKellen
If I was a star, it would be difficult to go off and do 'Coronation Street.' So I guess I'm not a star. - Ian McKellen
If I was on a march at the moment I would be saying to everyone: 'Be honest with each other. Admit there are limitless possibilities in relationships, and love as many people as you can in whatever way you want, and get rid of your inhibitions, and we'll all be happy. - Ian McKellen
If we just made one movie, 'The Hobbit,' the fact is that all the fans, the eight-, nine- and 10-year-old boys, they would watch it 1,000 times. Now, they've got three films they can watch 1,000 times. - Ian McKellen
If you've got Mystique as your girlfriend the fun you could have in bed - I've just imagined X-Men 3 might open with me in bed with Patrick Stewart. - Ian McKellen
I'm brilliant at cooking my stepmother's scrambled egg recipe. The secret is to put eggs, butter, milk, and seasoning together in the saucepan, and to keep stirring with a wooden spoon under a low heat until the preferred consistency is reached. - Ian McKellen
I'm fortunate to be famous for two rather imposing characters like Magneto and Gandalf. - Ian McKellen
I'm not being offered a constant stream of wonderful parts with wonderful directors that would keep me away from the theatre. When they turn up, I do them. - Ian McKellen
I'm not someone who wears shades all the time and ducks into a darkened car in case I'm recognized - that would be absolute misery. - Ian McKellen
I'm only an actor. I'm not a writer. I'm not going to leave any legacy. All I've ever done is learn the lines and say them. - Ian McKellen
I'm the sort of person who doesn't write in ink. I only write in pencil, so it can be rubbed out. - Ian McKellen
Imagine trying to be a gay actor, a gay anything in modern Russia? Where to be positively oneself, to be affectionate in public with someone you love of the same gender, or to talk of that love in the hearing of anyone under 18, will put you prison? - Ian McKellen