British actor Sir Ian McKellen, who
came out gay at 49, wishes he had come out younger.
The 74-year-old McKellen, who is best
known for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The
Hobbit trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films, told Men's
Journal that coming out was easy.
“It was very easy, but I was 49 years
old,” McKellen
said. “I hadn't given much thought about it before then, to
tell you the truth. I was living very happily and openly as a gay
man. It all happened in a bit of a rush when I decided to come out.
I was angry because of a law that was anti-gay in the United Kingdom,
and it was easier to come out in my indignation. When people are
worrying about coming out, they're worried about what other people
will think, they're worried about whether they'll lose the love of
their family. I'm involved in an organization which helps kids like
that in the U.K. called Albert Kennedy Trust, and we have a lot of
homeless kids thrown out by their parents. I do have a regret about
coming out – I wish I had come out much earlier, but again, what
can you do? You do what you can now.”