Here’s a wholesome video of Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren talking about Grindr and hook-ups
Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren discussing Grindr and hook-ups. (YouTube)
Titans of acting and ironclad gay icons Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Helen Mirren discussed hook-ups and dating apps.
Sir Ian, 80 and Dame Helen, 74 are currently starring in The Good Liar, a crime thriller about a career con-artist (McKellen) who meets a millionaire widow (Mirren) on a dating app and conspires to steal her fortune.
“Some people might be shocked that [the film] begins with two people of a certain age trying to meet on the internet,” McKellen told an ITN reporter.
“But actually, all the good relationships between my friends have happened because they did meet on the internet.”
When asked if apps such as Tinder “would have been useful in the 60s, 70s and 80s”, Mirren answered: “I think it’s fantastic.”
“What is Tinder?” asked McKellen. “Grindr? Is that for gays?”
“No, Grindr is a bit more erotic,” replied Mirren. “I think Tinder is for dating.”
As the interviewer explained that “there’s a lot of hook-ups on Tinder as well,” the actors reminisced about their days on the dating scene.
“When we were younger you met people in bars, that was dangerous,” said Mirren.
After singing a snatch of Frank Sinatra’s ‘Some Enchanted Evening’, McKellen said: “No one meets a stranger across a crowded room anymore, but there’s no thrill like it… you go into a room, you lock eyes with someone…”
“Isn’t that just the sexiest moment,” added Mirren.
Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren are acting legends
McKellen and Mirren are considered two of Britain’s finest-ever actors. Mirren is one of just 24 actors to have achieved the triple crown of acting (winning an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony) while McKellen lays claim to six Olivier awards and a Tony, among other honours.
Outside of his acting work, McKellen is known for his groundbreaking LGBT+ rights activism. He is a founding member of the charity Stonewall, which was set up in 1989 response to Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28. McKellen came out as gay a year prior, in 1988, prompted by parliament’s consideration of the law.
Mirren has been a vocal feminist throughout her career, and in recent times has become an advocate for the trans and non-binary community.
“I came to the conclusion an awfully long time ago that there is black and there is white, and we’re all somewhere in the middle in a wonderful mix of male and female,” she told RadioTimes in October.
