10 films and TV series with Ian McKellen

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The actor is famous as Gandalf and Magneto, but there are other equally striking roles in his piggy bank.

Ian McKellen is an amazingly versatile actor. He rose to fame in his native Britain for classic productions of Shakespeare's plays, but the world recognized him from fantasy and superhero blockbusters. He can play in the largest film franchises for years, and then star in the simplest sitcom.

Unfortunately, he became known to the general public only in adulthood, but McKellen repeatedly proves that he is perfectly given any role.

1. Scandal

• Great Britain, 1989.
• Drama.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The film is based on real events that unfolded in the early sixties. British Secretary of War John Profumo, while married, had an affair with a call girl Christine Keeler. As it turned out later, she was in parallel in an intimate relationship with the naval attaché of the Soviet Union Yevgeny Ivanov.

In the seventies and eighties, McKellen mainly played in the theater and starred in television productions. John Profumo is one of his first roles on the big screens, in which the dramatic talent of the actor immediately manifested itself.

2. Richard III

• UK, 1995.
• Drama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

This version of Shakespeare's play retells the original, but takes the action into the thirties of the XX century - a period of crisis of the monarchy and the spread of the ideas of fascism. After the death of the king in the civil war, his eldest son should take his place. But his younger brother Richard has his own ambitions and plans.

The plot structure is more reminiscent of a gangster movie than a classic play, and this has received mixed reactions from critics. Yet it was "Richard III" that became McKellen's first notable work, thanks to which he became known outside the UK.

3. Rasputin

• USA, Hungary, 1996.
• Drama, historical.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

The film begins with excavations where the remains of the royal family were discovered, and then the action is transferred to the past, during the reign of Nicholas II. Moreover, the story is told on behalf of Tsarevich Alexei, whom Grigory Rasputin treated for hemophilia. The plot is dedicated to the unusual abilities of the elder and his influence on the royal family.

The role of Rasputin in this film went to Alan Rickman, and Ian McKellen played the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. The image of an aristocrat perfectly suited the British, and he received a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for this role.

4. Gods and monsters

• USA, 1998.
• Drama, biography.
• Duration: 105 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Former Marine Clay takes a job as a gardener in the villa of an elderly man with a quarrelsome disposition. Soon, the hero is surprised to learn that his employer is the brilliant director James Weil, the creator of the Frankenstein films. Despite their different personalities and interests, they become friends. But it turns out that Whale is too tired of life and wants Clay to help him die.

And yet another film based on true events became another breakthrough in McKellen's career. The image of James Whale - one of the first openly gay men in Hollywood - was very important to the actor, who also declared his orientation.

As a result, the film earned massive acclaim and received three Oscar nominations, one of which went to Ian McKellen for the lead role.

5. A capable student

• USA, 1998.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 111 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

Todd Bowden is an intelligent and considerate high school student who loves history. He immerses himself in the study of the Holocaust and learns that a Nazi criminal who served as the commandant of a concentration camp secretly lives in the neighborhood. Threatening revelation, Todd forces the old man to tell him the details of the service and he himself gradually turns into a cruel criminal.

The role of Nazi Kurt Dussander in this adaptation of Stephen King's novel was a turning point in McKellen's career. After all, the actor not only perfectly got used to the image of a cruel old man, but also met the director Brian Singer. Later, he invited the actor to star in the superhero blockbuster X-Men.

6. X-Men

• USA, 2000.
• Action, science fiction.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The first large-scale superhero franchise is dedicated to the confrontation between two groups of mutants. Professor X and his charges want to live in peace with people, and his opponent Magneto considers mutants a superior race and plans to seize power. The fact that the government is afraid of people with supernormal abilities and is trying to control them adds to the problems.

The role of the controversial villain Magneto made McKellen famous throughout the world. He returned to this image in two sequels. Then the young version of Magneto was played by Michael Fassbender, and both actors appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

• USA, New Zealand, 2001.
• Fantasy, adventure.
• Duration: 178 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 8.

The adaptation of the legendary book by John R. R. Tolkien tells about the world of Middle-earth. The hobbit Frodo and his comrades must take the Ring of Omnipotence to Mount Doom and destroy it, but they will encounter many enemies on their way.

Following the success of X-Men, Ian McKellen immediately made his debut in yet another global franchise. In "The Lord of the Rings" he got the role of the wizard Gandalf. He played in the entire trilogy, and then returned to this image in the films of the Hobbit series.

8. Loser

• USA, Canada, 2005.
• Drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

Zack Riley's father was treated for chronic depression in a psychiatric clinic for a long time. Years later, Zak himself gets a job there. At the clinic, he meets a schizophrenic patient, Gabriel Finch, who considers himself a captive king. The hero realizes that the children's book, once written by his father, was about Gabriel.

In this film, McKellen got the image of the mad Finch. Together with Aaron Eckhart, he managed to show a comic and at the same time touching game with theatrical grotesque - it was not for nothing that the actor played the roles of kings in the theater for many years.

9. Mr. Holmes

• USA, UK, 2015.
• Drama, detective.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

The great detective has long retired and spends his old age in the village, caring for the apiary. He decides to write his own story about the last case that made him leave the profession. But first, Holmes needs to deal with the main enemy - his own memory.

This film is based on Mitch Cullin's novel Mr. Holmes's Bees, in which he features an aging detective. For this role, the middle-aged McKellen was made up to look like an even larger old man.

10. The series "Sinners"

• UK, 2013-2016.
• Sitcom.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Young Ash Weston moves to a new apartment and lives next door to a pair of elderly gay men Freddie and Stewart. They have been together for over forty years, but they swear and insult each other at every opportunity.

In this simple but very funny series, Ian McKellen played along with his longtime friend Derek Jacoby (they met back in 1958), as well as with Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon. The series lasted only two seasons, but the audience fell in love with charming characters and witty jokes. Therefore, they decided to end the story with a Christmas special.