Quotes from Ian Mckellen

People on television have trouble with fame because audiences think they're their mates.

Actors don't, in fact, retire, do they? It took me a while to remember that.

I'm the sort of person who doesn't write in ink. I only write in pencil, so it can be rubbed out.

I don't really like being with people my own age for long periods, because all we talk about is our decrepitude, how the world is changing for the worse even though it isn't.

The one thing you can ask, I think, is that actors get paid a living wage. I would like it if all the repertory theatres that currently exist could do that. It would make a huge difference.

I have lots of fans, they are mostly under the age of 12, boys and girls.

No one seems to wash in Middle-earth.

In any human-rights campaign, everybody must do what they can.

I don't have Gandalf the White's certainty about everything.

You always think that 70 is the end of the road: 'Somebody died when they were 73; good life'. You're closer to death, and you better make sure you don't waste too much of your time doing things you don't want to do. No point in saying things you don't believe in.

Doing some of the 'Lord Of The Rings' press junkets got a bit claustrophobic.

Every time you work is a challenge. There's a constant worry about it, and it's a side of acting I don't like.