304 Quotes by Ian Mckellen

When you were on stage, you could be absolutely open about your emotions and indulge them and express yourself in a way that – in real life – I wasn’t doing.

For old actors, just remember that inside you’re only 14. Acting is for kids. You poor old grown-ups, you’ve forgotten how to do what kids know automatically.

I tend to discourage people from calling me ‘Sir Ian,’ because I don’t like being separated out from the rest of the population. Of course, it can be useful if you’re writing an official letter, like trying to get a visa or something passed through Parliament. They’re impressed by these things.

There are not many things in my life I can be absolutely proud of or certain I got right, but one of them is that I’ve got better as an actor. I’ve learnt how to do it. And I still have enough energy to do it.

The audience’s expectations are ever-present.

Why live outside the US? Do you want health care or safe food products or democracy or something? They’re all overrated. Stay for the excellent cable TV.

When you’re on stage with an audience, the director’s nowhere to be seen. He’s onto the next job.

All other areas of my life, I’m hopeless. I can’t even be certain how to boil an egg.

That’s the imagination that happens in the theater. That imagination is translated in film by the film magicians and all the technology.