Ian McKellen on internalised homophobia: 'The cruellest directors I've worked with were gay'
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- In a new interview with Attitude, Sir Ian McKellen discussed his new film, The Critic, and his character Jimmy's internalised homophobia.
"The most cruel directors I've worked with were gay," he told us. "I therefore forgave them."
In The Critic, Ian plays a sharp-tongued theatre critic who eviscerates stage star Nina (Gemma Arterton) with his pen.
Attitude is the UK and Europe's biggest-selling LGBTQ magazine.
Subscribe to the official Attitude RUclips ►► bit.ly/3eVH6Xv
Subscribe to Attitude Magazine here: bit.ly/3TfyPR5
Visit the official Attitude website here: bit.ly/3xRh28D
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @attitudemag
Damn, he’s actually thinking about the question and killing it with his very smart and honest answers. How refreshing.
It’s nice to see good questions provoking good answers
Any gay person who tells you they haven't met a cruel gay person is either being disingenuous or leads an extremely closeted life.
truth is there’s no ‘community’-especially that alphabet soup
People can be cruel regardless of their orientation. Watch out for people who will use this logic to say that a certain group of people are particularly worse than others, you will find it even here in this thread.
@@WalksBehindTheRowsI've had a different experience. In fact I'd say that the most shallow and cruel people I've met were straight rather than gay, and most of my gay friends are good people. I would never use that to make a generalizing claim about straight people because that would just be uneducated.
@@WalksBehindTheRowsi think the bit about internalized homophobia resonates here
I don't believe it comprises our majority, but, yes, many of our fellow gays can be quite dismissive and supercilious. Also, snide and unduly passive-aggressive. Like OP, my circle of friends is overwhelmingly heterosexual. I have found it difficult to cultivate, let alone sustain more than two dear, gay friends.
It really resonated with me when he said he didn't feel angry until afterwards. It's like how people who are abused may not even realise they're being abused until it stops.
I'm 38, spent my whole childhood under Section 28 and the horrific climate it enabled. I never felt angry because I didn't understand how wrong it was, I was just scared. It's not until recently that I've come to understand how profoundly it damaged me, and not just me. My friends, peers, the wider community - so many idiosyncrasies that I just accepted as 'that's how gays are' I now recognise as coping mechanisms of trauma, distress and a stunted childhood. It's difficult to process the anger of injustice when its craven hypocritical architects are never really held to account.
You’ve put this into words very well. I’m 22 and recently came out as transgender. At first I was glad to finally be myself, and then I was mourning all the time I’d wasted being miserable, and then I became retroactively angry at all the people who’d stopped me from being happy as a child and teen. It didn’t upset me at the time because I didn’t know I could have it any other way, that I could be happy and loved as myself. I see the kids in my life being subjected to the same treatment and expectations, and my queer friends will say “It’s unfortunate, but you know we went through the same stuff and we ended up all right.” Are we all right? I came out relatively young and with very little problems, and I still feel messed up. I want to do everything I can to ensure that the next generation has what I would have needed to be a happy child.
Brilliantly put, thank you
So beautifully articulated. I wonder if all the people who were directly responsible for so much damage and pain -- including suicide -- will ever be held accountable. Here in the USA, we still haven't come to terms with the legacy of slavery even 160 years after the era.
The greatest gift that South Africa gave to the human race is the very concept of "Truth and Reconciliation" commissions. How that country came to terms with its legacy without resulting in a bloodbath is one of the remarkable achievements of the 20th century.
the moment you understand what has been forced upon you and done to you, socially or physically, it really is a come to jesus moment. im 31, and when i put it together for myself when i was younger i know i had a bit of mental break. it can be hard to grasp still now.
Stop lying
He came to my school once and gave a talk.
He told the room that he was gay and everyone was shocked!
Shocked that he even mentioned it because no one cared. lol
He smiled at that. Really nice guy.
Super intelligent questions, obviously answered eloquently by Ian.
Right? I definitely want to see more of this interviewer, his questions are so much more interesting than the usual ones
Agreed! A great pairing of interviewer and interviewee
Kudos to the interviewer for being able to keep calm and collected not just in front of such a legend but while asking such lovely questions and letting him answer in full.
One of the best press junket interviews with a movie star I've ever seen. Quiet and studied, which is rare for these things.
This old straight guy loves you Sir Ian...many more years to you.
Those were really thoughtful questions asked in a sober and respectful tone. Reminded me of how few true “journalists” are out there. Great job to the interviewer and thought-provoking answers from Sir Ian!
This is an unexpectedly strange and beautiful interview. The interviewer was obviously quite intimidated, even uncomfortable, perhaps interviewing such an important person. At the same time Sir Ian, was, I think, unusually candid and loose with his descriptions of himself, his work, and the film. I’ve noticed this in people who reach a certain age. There is a stage that the brain gets to I think where either there’s an inability to lie or perhaps it just doesn’t see the need, so it is open, even raw, in the way it expresses things and talks about itself. This tends to happens quite late in life, in a person’s 80s and 90s perhaps. In my experience sadly it’s often of the last stages where the mind is truly and fully engaged. I suggest we all savour this moment because we might loose it sooner rather than any of us would like.
I work with senior citizens, and what you wrote is quite true. Some think this late in life "frankness" is due to the deterioration of the brain "filter" we all have in the frontal temporal lobe. I don't agree.
I think people reach a certain age when they value TRUTH over image. They have nothing to "prove" anymore, and they don't care what others think of them. They also are interested in leaving some sort of "legacy" in this world, and what better legacy is there than raw truth and expressing what you truly think?
Splendidly said.
@@markmh835 Getting old is a humbling experience.
@@markmh835 I definitely saw this in my late grandma who fortunately didn’t have dementia unlike my other grandparents. She was always very honest and clear in her thoughts and worries in her late 80s. There’s no need to lie at that age.
I felt this of the interviewer too, but viewed it more from an angle of respect; I would imagine he's incredibly nervous and is probably holding a noteworthy admiration for Ian and just genuinely wanted it to go well. To not offend him in being too brazen or bore him with generic shallow questions, all while still trying to touch delicately on contentious topics for the sake of the insightful responses they can sometimes lead to. It really is a balancing act that's often weighted quite heavily in favour of the star, which must make it unbelievably nerve wrecking!
Wow, Sir Ian is sharp as a laser at 85. What an incredible man. Great interview!
Ian McKellen is such a treasure! We're blessed to have him, still killing it at this age!
This was probably the most thought-provoking interview I've seen for a movie. Nice to see intelligent questions and thoughtful, careful answers. Ian is a true gentleman.
Great questions! A breath of fresh air from the usual vacuous questions given to actors....
Ian it's a shame you don't watch yourself more easily, because your portrayal of Gandalf is a presence I look to and aspire to; the gentle strength, the kindness, playfulness and wisdom. Thank you. You basically filled the void left by Father Christmas!
Looking forward to seeing this. How surreal for him to have lived through those difficult times and now playing a part like this. But I have a little caveat. When you're as famous as Mckellen is you are going to be treated with a certain degree of respect that for most people living now, even with the culture having a better attitude, may still be denied. People are less likely to express their bigotry to your face but that doesn't mean the hate isn't still in the room. Very sad and disturbing to hear about gays behaving badly towards other gay people and people in general. I know personally about the anger and bitterness. Seeing populist far right movements rise up again is very concerning. Gay people are always a popular target. Some are not as strong as others and turn to drugs and alcohol. Very tragic. Mckellen is a positive light like Stephen Fry in a still too shaky existence for too many people. The real change must happen in the heart.
An intelligent and thoughtful interview; a rare treat. Thank you.
That was by far the best promotional interview for a film I have ever seen.
"I WASNT ANGRY UNTIL I CAME OUT. I WAS HAPPILY A COWARD" !! wisdom !!
Interviewer did an amazaing job asking meaningful question, and Sir Ian McKellen did a great job explaining his experiences and feelings. love this, its very informative.
As schoolgirls we saw Hamlet starring Ian McKellen at the Grand Theatre Wolverhampton when he was a member of the Prospect Theatre Group (or was it called The Actor's company?). I believe it was in 1972. It was a school trip and a matinee. In fact the audience seemed to be mostly schoolchildren. Ian's performance went down a storm. The many encores at the end were by genuine audience demand. After the performance, one of my friends said she thought Ian McKellen was gay. We didn't know what made her think that but maybe he could have come out then though I guess he might have lost roles if he had. My thought in relation to that, when I did think about it, was maybe it because the emotional scenes with other men, where they involved tenderness rather than anger, were more convincing than similar emotional scenes with women, though there's not a lot of tenderness in Hamlet, but Ian McKellen found some. After that I watched plays with Ian McKellen whenever I could, Richard II, Edward II, The Alchemist, Richard III, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Bent, No Man's Land.
Now this is a pace I enjoy. Ian McKellen taking his time answering quite thoughtful questions, just all around a great interview.
After he fell off the stage recently, I was worried that McKellen's health would not recover, as is often the case with people his age. Fortunately, he was wearing a fatsuit that absorbed most of the blow. He seems to have bounced back well. He's 85 and still very eloquent.I wish you the best, Ian.
McKellen was also on social media from nearly the beginning. He started a blog in 2000 to document his experiences filming LOTR, when he was 60.
Tres cool!!
Wow, this interview was absolutely stunning, questions that feel like they’re actually part of a very good conversation while actually (not surprisingly from sir Ian) getting very insightful and thought provoking answers, this was amazing!
Great interview. Sir Ian is an icon. Love him
He's a legend ❤🎉
Ian saying he was "happily a coward" kinda hits. I'm closeted in the public about me being trans non binary. My voice is deeper on hrt sure but I still look like a woman, which I don't want but it's harder to defend myself when so many people will fight me on it, either subtly or overtly. Maybe someday I'll advocate for myself, but honestly I feel safer hiding my pronouns and my chosen name from strangers
It's a black mark against society that you're forced to wrestle with such choices. I can only apologize for the unfairness of it and (perhaps more importantly) for my own role in it. I certainly wasn't as accepting in my youth as I now realize basic decency demands. I do somewhat better now. Far from perfect I suspect, despite my best intentions, but better. I both hope and believe that society too will be better tomorrow than today and eventually we will all arrive together at a place of universal decency.
Until then I want to say (and this is why I started this comment at all); that there may be reasons why bravery is useful and why we should duly honor those who do boldly put themselves forward; but there is _NEVER ANY SHAME IN PRIORITIZING YOUR OWN SAFETY._ Fixing society's problems isn't on you any more than it's on me. We each carry a small and equal piece of that burden and it doesn't include being forced to defend your own right to exist. There's nothing cowardly about not taking on an unfair fight that's unjustly thrust upon you.
I'm so sorry that you're in this position. No one should have to apologize for who they are. I wish you well.
I may be mistaken but I believe he actually said "cowed" and the captions got it wrong.
@@hodgeelmwood8677 ah good catch, I haven't heard that term before - that might make a little more sense. It works similarly to the initial comment since there's an intimidation factor there too
Stop with the foolishness, and get right with God.
No one is interested in indulging your delusions.
Jamie Tabberer, Bravo!
Thank you for the fantastically refreshing and intelligent interview. Could you share a bit about what it was like meeting Sir Ian?
Interview. Intelligent and thoughtful questions and answers. And what a stellar cast. Can’t wait to see it
Sir Ian is always so eloquent, sharp and highly engaging in his interviews. His charm, inner beauty and handsomeness crosses over in the most impactful way.
A thespian and a rare human being.
That s what humans are capable of.
Let s remind that to ourselves as we swim in an ocean of mediocrity, cliches and shameness and calling it progress with authenticity (!)
His Movie Will Be Epic Cant Wait To Enjoy🎉❤
Now why has Ian Mckellen not been on Drag Race he would love it! Hilarious if he was on an acting challenge he understands camp for sure
Drag Race UK would be perfect for him
Yes, some times we all have a mean gay man in us, figuratively, not literally.
This is a fabulous interview. Such amazing questions and amazing answers. Thank you for not asking the same boring stuff everyone does.
I worked with a director who was gay (deeply closeted) and not only was he hard on the gay actors but he even took advantage of some of them. It's tragic, but it definitely is a real thing that happens all too often
Thoughtful and intelligent questions. I did feel, however, that some of the questions were quite leading such that Ian tried politely to rephrase them in his responses.
Just because the film has got a gay character doesn't mean it's necessarily a gay rights movie. This is a telling of a story like any other, only that it has a gay character in it.
I agree, a couple of questions were quite cringingly leading ... nevertheless Ian cleverly refused to be led! Bravo, sir!
Agreed. It was a great interview, don't get me wrong, but some questions were just previous ones rephrased, and some seemed to be pushing him to make some sort of a statement.
For such an old man he is quite beautiful.
Not too deep for those that traveled that path as well..TY Sir Ian
What a fantastic interview. Great questions, great answers!
The same logic applies to other minority groups unfortunately.
It is the same set of people who has a foot in the door with the status quo. People who has intimate knowledge about the plight and weaponized that knowledge against other minorities like they have more to prove for their inferiority complex.
Love Sir Ian he truly is an icon of acting
Could listen to him talk all day
Ian, you are a lion in your community. Yes, you are so right. Gd bless you. Thanks youfor all th rest of us. God blesss you!
Bryan Singer??
Totally.
@MarcosIsABaritone they were quite close at one point. But that was my first thought too.
He's also mostly talking about stage directors that he worked with. I saw backstage in theatre myself, and many gay directors were spiteful, much like straight one's too. Stage directors are pure aresoles. 😂
Singer was abusive on set and likes lil boys, so no way Ian's referring to anyone else
@@RandomizationShow I don't think he is, because he segues into theatre directors, so he obviously has a non-film director on his mind.
Beautiful interview, great questions and great answers!
Such a talent. Ian is a master of his craft and deserves his flowers while we still can give them to him
Thanks for such insightful questions. It's clear Sir Ian felt compelled to dig deep in his responses.
What a profound element of duality (if that's the correct term). Pertaining to his comment about watching his work. Or work he's done rather. No one who IS good ever thinks they're good enough. Then again, that isn't a feeling that's exclusive to those who are...
I love listening to Ian talk.
Talk about Bryan Singer without saying you're talking about Bryan Singer.
He looks so cheeky in the thumbnail.
Excellent interview!
What an exceptional interview! Wonderfully insightful questions along with genuinely thoughtful answers ✨10/10✨
What a fantastic interview. Gives me hope that journalism will return back to curiosity instead of controversy
What a brilliant interview on both sides. Brilliant questions and brilliant answers. Ian, I love you and admire you even more. Your opinions and insights are inspiring and very sexy!
I hadn't heard of this film upcoming but I loved this interview and will definitely give it a watch! Thoughtful questions and answers both.
A great conversation !
beautiful in questions and also the answers. thank you.
Remarkably good interview on both sides .
one of the few persons alive i would do anything to have dinner with...
Patrick Marber is such a gifted writer, as well as actor, director and comedian. Look forward to seeing this!
wonderful interview, brilliant questions and responses!
Brilliant interview! Superb questions
He's simply marvelous, eloquent and so talented.
Also, some people are just cruel and happen to also be gay.
This is like the opening scene in gods and monsters 😂
Excellent questions, excellent answers.
While I enjoyed this as a whole I would have liked less cut aways from what Sir Ian Mcallen was saying. He seemed to have more involved opinions and stories to tell. it seems to just cut to the interviewer picking away than really having an answer.
I absolutely adore this man, not only for the films I've seen him acting in, his voice and demeanor, his compassion, but also for his passion for the Art.
And he's also very right... I'm a straight woman with rly close gay friends, and they have also said some of the most vicious ppl they have met were gay. So sad indeed when the bullying they have suffered are projected onto others.
Best interview with Ian I've ever seen
I'm going to see this film tomorrow!
Thank you so much for this wonderful interview and thank you Sir Ian for your honesty.
Really lucid discussion of complex, layered subjects... he's wonderful, again.
Thoughtful replies to a thoughtful interviewer's questions. Good stuff.
God I love Ian. What a necessary force he is.
Refreshingly thoughtful exchange. Good job.
Being homosexual opens one's eyes. Being persecuted, bullied and discriminated makes one sensitive to other minorities.
yes I am bi and feel the discrimination from both sides. will soon only date trans as a consequence
So that's the majority of people then because almost everybody has been bullied for one reason or another when they kids.
@@BradLad56-- I understand what you are saying, I truly do. And I mean no disrespect. But when people attempt to "broaden" a painful point -- such as when you wrote that most people get bullied as children so they know how that feels -- it tends to erase the unique perspective and experiences of the vulnerable (or "oppressed") group in question.
When some white folks in the USA (where I live) responded to the slogan "Black Lives Matter" with their retort "All Lives Matter," I felt the same way. Maybe I can explain it best with the analogy as to whether it would be appropriate to respond to a activist slogan of "Breast Cancer Matters" by saying "All Cancers Matter." Or if someone told you they were being treated for breast cancer, should someone respond, "I know how you feel. I beat prostate cancer." Or an even worse response: "Well if we live long enough, we'll all likely get cancer."
Those kind of "broadening" responses or analogous comparisons do a great disservice to the victim group trying to be understood in a unique way. LGBT people were (and still are to some degree) treated differently than other people in the majority population. Indeed, even they have had different experiences depending on who they are and when and where they were born. They should not be compared to any other group.
@@markmh835 well they can be because because bullying and persecution isn't unique to homosexuals.
@@BradLad56 it's different to care about something because you are directly concerned
Wow! What an amazing, respectful and courageous interview.
Refreshing interview. Thanks.
Very good interview!
BRILLIANT interview. Finally one worth watching. Bravo
Great Interview.
Love Ian. And absolutely loved him in Gods and Monsters. Gonna need to watch this one.
I think he said he was 'cowed' rather than 'a coward', I think that's an important distinction there
Tldw hurt people hurt people
what a fantastic interview
Nothing but love for Ian, and this interview only made me love him even more ^^
3:00 Sometimes i forget how violent and cruel the treatment towards gay people back then
what a remarkable interview, thank you for this
Ian, I absolutely adore you.
He’s probably talking about Bryan Singer right?
Great interview!!
I am a newer McKellan fan. But he is a treasure. 9:22
This was a lovely interview.
"The only criminal i've ever worked with was gay".
This is an excellent interview!
Ian McKellen is really just always the best
Damn, this is a truly great interview.
in the world of fandoms online, especially among female artists, the most vicious are gay men! so it's interesting to hear this conversation. indeed, it stems from a lot of personal dissatisfaction as well as rejection from society, family, etc. we've come a long way, sure, but not everywhere and there's still a lot of rejection, violence, etc that gay men face that makes them lash out at others
That was a fun interview...
It's sad, sad to see. Small people
A great performer and human being.