Sir Ian McKellen Opens Up on Lip-Syncing LS Lowry for BBC Documentary
Sir Ian McKellen has candidly described the "challenging" experience of lip-syncing the voice of renowned English artist LS Lowry for an upcoming immersive BBC documentary, admitting the process was "not easy." The veteran actor, aged 86 and famed for roles in The Lord of the Rings and X-Men, is set to portray painter Laurence Stephen Lowry nearly five decades after his death in the Arts Arena film LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes.
Embodying Lowry Through Unheard Recordings
The documentary will feature Sir Ian "adding the body and the face" to Lowry's voice, synchronising his performance with previously unheard recordings of the artist. These tapes capture interviews between Lowry and Angela Barratt, a young fan who discussed his life from childhood to his final days. Reflecting on the unique demands, Sir Ian stated: "I’m surprised to discover the most challenging aspect of lip syncing is making your mouth fit the recorded words. It ain’t easy. I don’t find it easy."
He expressed admiration for co-star Annabel Smith's proficiency in the technique, detailing the meticulous process: "You record a sentence at a time until you’ve got an exact match." Sir Ian also voiced curiosity about the final result, questioning his performance: "I’d be very interested to see what it looks like and I know what it sounds like, but am I doing enough with my face, am I doing too little? I don’t know."
Mastering a New Skill and Lowry's Character
Acknowledging the difficulty of mastering lip-syncing quickly, Sir Ian was drawn to the project by his interest in Lowry and the prospect of acquiring "a new ability" late in his career. He noted a particular characteristic in Lowry’s speech from the tapes: "What’s surprising about these Lowry tapes is that he gets the inflection wrong. He doesn’t always stress the right word." This contrasted with an actor’s typical focus on clarity and intention.
However, he found joy in conveying nuances beyond the spoken word: "But it’s been fun for me, beyond the words to perhaps indicate there’s sometimes a twinkle in his eye and a glance to the side that the sound recorders couldn’t have picked up. There’s more going on in these tapes than just the words, I think." He concluded that while a voice reveals "an awful lot," the actor's contribution of "the body and the face" completes the presentation.
Personal Reflections and Lowry's Artistic Legacy
Sir Ian shared a personal reflection on the power of recorded voices: "I wish I had sound recordings of my long-dead family, for example, and I would love to hear my mother’s voice and my father’s. Not just to take me back, but because a voice reveals an awful lot about a person and would tell me things that I didn’t get a chance to understand while they were alive. I think the same’s true with hearing these tapes."
Discussing his connection to Lowry, Sir Ian highlighted the artist’s appreciation for performing arts: "I mean he appeals to me as an actor because he clearly loved the theatre, we know that from his reports of his life and he liked the ballet, he liked pantomime. And I think that’s reflected more than people perhaps realise in the paintings and drawings." He added: "I think what’s revealed from these tapes is that he did very much to his work, his paintings. He was a great artist."
Documentary Details and Broadcast Information
The one-hour Arena documentary, part of the BBC’s long-running arts strand, will also explore how the industrial landscapes of Salford and Greater Manchester evolved over time, a recurring theme in Lowry’s distinctive artwork. LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes is scheduled to air on BBC Two and iPlayer at 9pm on February 25, offering viewers an intimate look at the artist through Sir Ian McKellen's transformative performance.
