We could wang on about how great Sir Ian McKellen is all day. Millions know him as Gandalf in the Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogieswhile others know him as Magneto in the X-Men franchise, for which he’s revealed he wore a sculpted undersuit to give him a more muscular torso. He returns in Avengers: Doomsday later this year.
But don’t be fooled by the blockbusters; McKellen has been and still is one of the finest actors of his generation. On film, his roles go back to A Touch of Love in the late 1960s, playing John Profumo in Scandal in 1989, and starring in and producing Richard III in the mid-90s. A late90s double whammy – Gods and Monsters, for which he was Oscar nominated, and Apt Pupil – put him over the top, after which he rolled into the aforementioned franchises, resulting in 11 appearances (so far). In between he’s managed some great stuff, such as the ageing ’tec drama Mr Holmes, theatrical thriller The Critic …. and the voice of Zebedee in The Magic Roundabout. The less said about Cats the better. And now he’s taking a lead role in the new Steven Soderbergh film, The Christophers, opposite Michaela Coel.
