In a recent interview with The Guardian, McKellan revealed that Alec Guinness once advised him not to get too openly involved with advocating for gay rights. According to McKellan, he was recently reminded about this advice from the Obi-Wan Kenobi actor after watching the touring play Two Halves of Guinness, a solo show that stars Zeb Soanes as Guinness. McKellen said that it “hints at Sir Alec’s latent bisexuality in a way that would have upset him, I suppose.”
One X user pointed out that there is a reason for this advice, and that it doesn’t come from a place of hate: “To be clear, this isn’t a story of Alec Guinness being homophobic. Alec Guinness was bisexual and was arrested for cruising when he was younger. This is a very sad story of how queer people had to hide themselves and assimilate into a deeply homophobic industry.”
