Ian McKellen has candidly discussed whether he regrets not having children, emphasizing that biology is not a prerequisite for kinship. The 86-year-old actor, famous for his role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, came out as gay at age 48 during a BBC radio interview in 1998 and was a founding member of the LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall.
While he has previously stated he has no desire to marry, McKellen admitted in a new interview with Attitude Magazine that he does wish he had children. However, he noted that he has close parental bonds with several young people in his life, stressing that the absence of a biological connection does not diminish their familial status.
When asked about regrets regarding children, McKellen said: "I used to say the only advantage of being gay was that you didn't have to get married. And starting Stonewall — it was never our intention to lobby on behalf of gay marriage. We didn't think it was necessary, and some people thought it was absolutely not and that the whole point of proselytizing about being gay was to challenge the whole idea of marriage and everything else."
He confessed: "Do I now wish I had children? Well I do." But he added: "I've got young people who I'm allowed to criticise and befriend and love. So they don't need to come from your loins for you to feel they're family. And I'm part of a very large family."
Return to Middle-earth
McKellen also teased his upcoming reprisal of Gandalf in a new live-action Lord of the Rings film, currently titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Shooting is set to begin this month in New Zealand, with a scheduled release date of December 17, 2027.
Speaking about portraying the iconic wizard, he said: "One of the great joys of having played Gandalf is that walking down the street, quite small people run up to you and want to shake your hand because they can't believe they've met Gandalf. I sometimes say, 'Well look I'm not Gandalf.' And they understand, as I used to understand that when I went to see Santa Claus in the big shop, that wasn't the real Santa Claus. And I'm not the real Gandalf — the real Gandalf is still in Middle-earth."
He added: "I'm going to join him, actually, quite soon. Make his acquaintance again in the new Middle-earth film."
Coming Out and Its Impact
McKellen has previously stated that coming out as gay made him a better actor and improved his relationships. In a 2023 interview with Variety, he said: "Almost overnight everything in my life changed for the better — my relationships with people and my whole attitude toward acting changed."
He told Pink News that his acting abilities advanced because he was no longer hiding: "I never stopped talking about [coming out] since. Made up for lost time. It changes your life utterly… I discovered myself. And everything was better. My relationships with my family, with friends, with strangers, and my work got better as I wasn't hiding anymore. Up to that point, my acting had really been about disguise and then when I could feel I was myself, it came about telling the truth, which was much more interesting."
He expressed sorrow for celebrities who feel they cannot come out, describing being closeted as "silly." Encouraging young actors to be authentic, he said: "I have never met anybody who came out who regretted it. I feel sorry for any famous person who feels they can't come out. Being in the closet is silly — there's no need for it. Don't listen to your advisers, listen to your heart. Listen to your gay friends who know better. Come out. Get into the sunshine."
Harvey Weinstein and the Oscar
McKellen recently claimed that convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein prevented him from becoming the first openly gay man to win the Best Actor Oscar by manipulating votes at the 1999 Academy Awards. McKellen was nominated for his role in Gods and Monsters, but the award went to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful, a film produced by Weinstein's Miramax.
McKellen recalled: "Gods and Monsters was a breakthrough and I was embraced by that side of the industry. I received an Oscar nomination. But did not receive an Oscar. And I had a note in my pocket for years later saying 'Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to be the first openly gay actor to receive this award.' Well, I had to put it back in my pocket."
He added: "And what's that man who's in prison now? Harvey Weinstein. He was a very successful film producer and had all sorts of ways in promoting his movies. And he was very busy come awards season time, making sure that it was his films that won the awards. The year I was nominated and I think was the front runner for a few weeks before the actual ceremony. I didn't win the award. It went to Roberto Benigni. He won the award and it was a film, this is the point, that Harvey Weinstein had produced. About five or six years later, we met at some other event and he said, 'Oh, I do apologise for stealing the Oscar from you.'"
Weinstein has a reputation for 'rigging' awards through negative campaigning, pressuring voters, and relentless lobbying. The year McKellen lost is the same year Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture, an upset widely attributed to Weinstein's tactics. Weinstein, once a Hollywood heavyweight, fell from grace in 2017 after sexual misconduct allegations sparked the #MeToo movement. He is currently serving a 16-year sentence in California, with a third Manhattan trial ongoing.
