Appearing Monday on HuffPost Live,
British actor Ian McKellen said that his life improved after he came
out gay in the 80s.
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, publicly announced he's gay in
1988. He currently shares the role of Sherlock Holmes with Nicholas
Rowe in the film Mr. Holmes.
When HuffPost Live host Josh Zepps
asked McKellen to describe how he uses social media, he answered that
it has led to “relationships with like-minded people who didn't
speak the same language as I did, weren't my age, and who I would
never meet.”
He added that he keeps his personal
life private by saying that he's gay but not discussing whom he
sleeps with.
On coming out, McKellen said: “It was
the best thing I ever did in my life, as every gay person will tell
you. I grew up overnight and I was born again. Everything went
better.”