Ian McKellen, the actor renowned for his portrayal of Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, has expressed his steadfast belief in not attempting to dictate the audience’s thoughts or opinions in any of his work.
McKellen’s remarks were originally made in 2003 during the promotional campaign for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. These comments have recently resurfaced, thanks to Jonathan Watson, who uploaded and shared them on his YouTube channel, The One Ring.
Sir Ian McKellen Doesn’t Want To Dictate His Audience
A reporter inquired of Ian McKellen what singular message he wished the audience to grasp, something that would define the enduring legacy of The Lord of the Rings films. Ian McKellen conveyed that he refrains from dictating the thoughts of his audience, emphasizing that he doesn’t assume the roles of a politician, a preacher, or a propagandist. Instead, he identifies as an actor dedicated to representing the voices and messages of the writers he collaborates with.
“I am not a politician. I’m not a proselytizer. I’m not a pamphleteer. I’m an actor. And I work on behalf of people who do the writing, who have the message,” he said. “My job is not to ell the audience anything. It’s just to explain the person I’m playing beyond the side of the character I’m playing. Good or bad, I don’t judge character.”
Following his earlier statement, McKellen illustrated his approach with an example. He mentioned that during his portrayal of Richard III and Gandalf, he didn’t set out to preach about the perils of tyranny and dictators. Instead, he focused on delving into the characters’ backgrounds and motivations, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions without trying to predict their response.
“When I played Richard III, I didn’t say, I’m going to tell the audience why they shouldn’t like tyranny and dictators. I just got on with explaining why Richard III turned out to be the way he was. And the same with Gandalf. Do my best to impersonate them, but I can’t anticipate the audience’s reaction.”
McKellen’s remarks stand in stark contrast to the modern-day methods employed by actors to promote their films.
Sir Ian McKellen Had A Problem With The Hobbit’s CGI
Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Andy Serkis returned to their characters from The Lord of the Rings series. The studios scored a significant victory by securing the participation of esteemed actor Sir Ian McKellen for another installment.
McKellen’s familiarity with CGI stemmed from his time on X-Men, but he primarily cherished the opportunity to be on real sets, surrounded by actual people collaborating with him. He expressed this sentiment by stating,
“In order to shoot the dwarves and a large Gandalf, we couldn’t be in the same set. All I had for company was 13 photographs of the dwarves on top of stands with little lights – whoever’s talking flashes up. Pretending you’re with 13 other people when you’re on your own… it stretches your technical ability to the absolute limits.”
According to the publication, he exhibited bouts of frustration as the situation began to wear on his nerves, leading to Peter Jackson’s intervention in the end.
Source: Bounding Into Comics
