Out British actor Ian McKellen says
coming out improved his life.
McKellen, who is best known for playing
Gandalf in the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
trilogies and Magneto in the X-Men films, made his comments in
an interview with The Hollywood Reporter at the Rome Film
Fest.
The 78-year-old McKellen is the subject
of Director Joe Stephenson's new documentary, McKellen: Playing
the Part.
“I think any gay person who does come
out will tell you that that is the best thing that they have ever
done in their life because they stop lying. They tell the truth about
themselves,” McKellen
said.
“They become altogether a more
attractive person, a more confident person. Everything in your life
improves, including, in my case, my acting.”
“I was able to use my work to tell
the truth about human nature rather than using it to disguise it. It
is not easy to come out for some people. Everyone’s worried that
they’ll lose their jobs. Actors think, oh I won’t get jobs
anymore. None of it’s true. My career as a film actor took off very
shortly after I was honest and came out. So that’s my message to
other actors who are having a problem: don’t,” he added.
McKellen came out at age 49 in 1988 in
part to fight Britain's Section 28, which prohibited authorities from
“promoting homosexuality.”
“But I’m very proud of my small
contributions to changing the law in this country and changing
attitudes, all for the better, and I suppose in the scheme of things
that is more important and the more merit and longer lasting than any
acting that I have done. But that is more for other people to judge,
isn’t it?” McKellen said.