Ian McKellen isn’t stopping acting any time soon. The Lord of the Rings actor shared a perfectly blunt response to the potential when he was asked about it recently.
"Retire to do what?" McKellen replied incredulously when Variety broached the subject in a recent profile. "I’ve never been out of work, but I’m aware that any minute now something could happen to me which could prevent me from ever working again. But while the knees hold up and the memory remains intact, why shouldn’t I carry on? I really feel I’m quite good at this acting thing now."
He’s certainly not wrong. McKellen has been on stage and screen since the late 1950s and has multiple awards to his name. Some of McKellen’s most acclaimed performances include Gods and Monsters, Richard III, and Six Degrees of Separation, but many will know him best for his franchise work. Not only is he beloved for playing wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, but he’s also Magneto in X-Men. Not a bad career so far if we say so ourselves…
Next up for McKellen is The Critic, where he plays a theater reviewer who clashes with a struggling actor played by Gemma Arterton. The movie is premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival. For more on TIFF, check out our first review from the festival of Jonathan Glazer’s Zone of Interest.
For more upcoming movies on the way, you can also check out all of the 2023 movie release dates we know about.
