Ian McKellen: ‘I’m accepted as a gay man and as happy now as I’ve ever been’
Actor and activist Sir Ian McKellen has spoken of how progress in gay rights has allowed him to come out and feel accepted, and says that aged 73 he is as content with life as he has ever been.
Sir Ian told the Radio Times that when he started out as an actor in his early twenties he lacked self-confidence, partly due to his sexuality.
“One of the reasons I became an actor was because I wasn’t self-confident,” he said.
“That was compounded by the fact that being gay was illegal in this country until I was 28 years old. That doesn’t do much for your self-confidence.”
He added: “Now I’m in a country where the laws don’t discriminate any longer. I feel accepted and about bloody time, frankly. That – plus the fact that I’m still working and still have my health – means I’m as happy now as I’ve ever been.”
Although still in good shape, Sir Ian said he was more aware of his own mortality now. In December he revealed that he had been living with prostate cancer for several years, but said that thanks to early diagnosis it was “no big deal”.
“Do I think about death? Yes, every day. People of our age, when we get together, talk about decrepitude all the time. We know we’ve got our lives behind us now,” he said.
“Friends keep dying, or get very ill. I’ve got a lot of young friends – that’s how I bolster myself against the inevitable.
“I’ve just arranged my house so that I’ll still be able to live in it when I can’t walk, so now there’s a lift in it.”
