Video: Ian McKellen Talks Pantomime, Shakespeare, and More on CNN

"I don’t have anything to prove," he said of his career.

By: Feb. 10, 2023
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Ian McKellen chatted with Christiane Amanpour on CNN yesterday, where he discussed playing Mother Goose in a pantomime, his Shakespeare experience, and more.

"I don't have anything to prove," he said of his career. "I'm not trying to make it - if I ever was. I'm trying to give the audience a good time, honestly."

Check out the clips below!

McKellen made his professional debut at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in 1961. He reached superstardom later in life from 2000 onward when he played Magneto in the X-Men films and Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. On the West End, he has portrayed several characters from works in William Shakespeare's cannon. Throughout his 60-year career, McKellen has amassed a collection of more than sixty major acting awards, including a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and seven Laurence Olivier Awards, including a special Olivier for this one-man show.


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