MCKELLEN: PLAYING THE PART Documentary to Open In Select Theaters June 19

Constructed around a 14-hour interview, McKellen: Playing the Part uncovers the remarkable story of actor Sir Ian McKellen. From his upbringing living through the Second World War, working through repertory and West End theatre becoming a pioneering stage star, coming out and being a leader in the campaign for equality, to his mainstream film breakouts as Magneto and Gandalf. His work and influence transcends generations, celebrated here in this fully authorized insight.

McKellen: Playing the Part features unprecedented access to private photo albums, a wealth of never-before-seen archive material, including diaries written when he was 12, and exclusive behind the scenes of theatre shows and films, alongside his personal thoughts on a life long lived.

???? "An intimate, enthralling look at the life of a legend." - Time Out

McKellen: Playing The Part, a film by Joe Stephenson will be released in select movie theaters on June 19. Find your local cinema at mckellenfilm.com

Director's Statement - Joe Stephenson

For the last 5 years I've been privileged enough to call Ian McKellen a friend. We were initially introduced by a mutual friend (Martin Sherman, a writer that I'd hired on a script) and very quickly found we shared many passions, and as with most friendships in this industry, the passion for storytelling was at the forefront.

One day Ian invited me to the Proms (one of his favourite times of the year) and having never been, I joined him. It was at the dinner that followed, where he told me all about an autobiography he was starting to write. He spoke about his parents, his childhood and the start of his journey as an actor. I was completely fascinated and inspired because he's a great storyteller, but the truth is, there was also so much I didn't know. Like most of my generation, I knew him primarily as Magneto and Gandalf. I knew he was one of our best theatre actors but having never had chance to see him on stage (at the time) I had nothing to cement that fact in my own mind. I also knew of his work for gay rights - but as they were issues fading fast as I came of age (at least in a sense of attitudes amongst peers) that part of his life had also passed me by. As a friend and as a fan, I was eager to hear more and read this autobiography. However the next time I saw him, he told me he wasn't writing it anymore. The advance he had received was returned and it was never to happen. The writing process wasn't for him. Understandable, but I felt that his story was one that could inspire many, like it had inspired and fascinated me. I felt maybe I might be able to find a way to tell it. So that is what I asked him, would he allow me to tell his story for him? Perhaps this could be my second film.

The proposal was simple: the first stage was that we sit down for 5 days and talk about everything. Friend to friend, in the comfort of his own home (in front of some cameras, of course) I suggested 4 days talking honestly about every step of his journey; every theatre production, every film, every success and every failure, and then on the 5th day we'd talk freely about life, philosophy and everything in between. He agreed and this is what we did, and ultimately it came to around 14.5hrs of interview footage.

I'm not a documentary filmmaker, and had no ambitions to be one. But here was an opportunity to hopefully move, entertain and educate audiences using film as the medium, so I embraced it. But finding myself with 14.5hrs of interview and the entire life of an icon to respect and communicate in a succinct and entertaining way was intimidating. Where to start? Well the only thing I could think to do was start at the beginning. And so the first edit was a fully chronological four hour journey from birth to present day. I was pleased to have made some initial choices of what to include and what not, enough to get 14+hours down to four. It was a start. But it wasn't watchable and needed cutting in half.

Then to complicate matters, came the archive footage. We needed to know what was available - we contacted the obvious candidates and had screeners sent of anything Ian was in. Piles of unlabelled DVDs arrived with the only caveat being that they featured Ian McKellen, at some point. Sounds good, but we soon found that in lots of cases scanning through these, it would be hard to find Ian. Many would be minor interview clips within larger programs, or small early TV roles we weren't going to talk about in the film. Hours of trailing through archive to find what may help us was at times tedious, but then you would find gold: a 30 year old Ian talking to camera about being an actor earning only five pounds a week, for example, or his first TV role in Kipling for the BBC. Once deciding what we had that was of use, it was then a case of going back into the edit and seeing how it could be used to enhance the film. But this only added to the run time, rather than helping us reduce it.

The structure changed several times over the months of editing. One version was a completely chaptered structure but could it be structured by theme? Types of roles? Decades of life? While ultimately unused, these edits helped refine more and more what was important to me about Ian's story and outlook on life. The message I wanted the audience to walk away with felt like it was getting clearer.

Something that was clear from day one of the interview itself - my desire to reconstruct stories from his early life. Some stories Ian told in the interview, of important formative moments from his early life, which felt like the perfect opportunity to take the audience into his perspective, his experiences and make a connection on a different level before we move into archive. To see how he remembers his childhood, in cinematic black and white photography, might add to the experience for the audience but also completely chimed with one of the key themes that was coming out of the editing process: we are always acting, playing a part. So to see into Ian's memory with actors playing the part of Ian felt right on many levels. When these had been shot, much later than the interview, they had their own effect on the structure.

Editing this film felt like it could go on forever as there was always new things to find and new ways to tell stories.

Ultimately I had to make decisions to not include many things I wish I could have included. But as important/funny/enlightening as certain things were, they slowed down the pace of the film and it was always a priority to make a film that was accessible and entertaining. This means not over-long of course. So an encounter with Bowie or how he and Judi snuck into the throne room at Buckingham Palace had to go, as they had no consequence to Ian's larger journey.

Ian was sceptical all along the way as to whether his life was interesting enough, and whether there was an audience out there interested enough. Time will tell, but learning about his life on this level has only made me more inspired and more grateful to be able to call him a friend. It has been an honour to be trusted with his story, and I hope audiences enjoy his journey as much as I have enjoyed discovering it.

Director's Biography

Joe Stephenson gained his diploma from NYFA at 17yo and went on to established B Good Picture Company, directing and producing a series for Sky Arts, In Love With, starring over 20 of the best British acting talent including Eddie Marsan, Craig Roberts, Simon Callow, Karen Gillan, Stephen Fry, John Simm and many more. Alongside this Joe started developing a slate of features, including a BFI developed comedy by Sarah Smith (Arthur Christmas) and an original fantasy by Charles McKeown (Brazil) as well as Noel- the Noel Coward biopic.

Joe has directed music videos and TV specials, and most recently his debut feature film Chicken(the film adaptation of the stage play of the same name), starring Yasmin Paige (The Double, Submarine), Morgan Watkins (Suffragettes, Wild Bill), and introducing Scott Chambers. The film has been awarded and critically acclaimed, was released theatrically in the UK in 2016 as well as screening at festivals including Edinburgh International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, Dublin International Film Festival, Giffoni International Film Festival and more.

McKellen: Playing the Part is Joe's second film.

McKellen: Playing The Part is a B Good Picture Company production, produced with Surreal Film Company in association with Ugly Duckling Films and Blue Topaz Productions Limited, with the support of Great Point Media and Lipsync Productions. International sales are handled by Independent.