CANNES, France (AP) – What a pair those dashing young mutants Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart make in X-Men: The Last Stand. The two 60-something actors had 20 years shaved off their features for the opening sequence in the comic-book franchise’s latest flick. The filmmakers used digital technology to match their current features to those in old photos. [More]
Category: Ian McKellen
Director Trevor Nunn is to pair his forthcoming Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear with a revival of Chekhov’s The Seagull, also for the RSC. The two productions, both cast with the same acting ensemble lead by Ian McKellen, will play in repertory at Stratford-upon-Avon’s new Courtyard Theatre from March 2007 before going on a world tour. McKellen will play the title role in King Lear, which will conclude the RSC’s year-long Complete Works Festival, and also appear as Sorin in The Seagull. [More]
From Variety: Rachel Weisz, Ian McKellen and Susan Sarandon have joined Colin Firth in The Colossus, a colonial drama set in South Africa at the turn of the 20th century, to be directed by Sean Mathias. Based on Ann Harries’ novel “Manly Pursuits,” the $15 million film was written by Mathias and Myer Taub, and produced by Lisa Katselas. The Colossus is a fictionalized version of real events. It’s the story of ornithologist Francis Wills (Firth), who is hired to transport English songbirds to recently deposed South African prime minister Cecil Rhodes (McKellen). Wills falls in love with a firebrand political activist (Weisz) and becomes entangled in a plot to stop the imminent Boer War. Variety says the project is expected to shoot this fall. [More]
Ian McKellen and a scary looking Elijah Wood are currently in France promoting movies at the Cannes Film Festival. McKellen, in case you missed it, is there for ‘The Da Vinci Code’ while Wood is there for ‘Paris Je T’aime’. Take a look at a select few photos here. [More]
He’s a national treasure: an acting colossus whose extraordinary repertoire has taken in everything from Alfred the Great to Zebedee. And with the Da Vinci Code and X-Men 3 due for release next month, Sir Ian McKellen is showing no sign of putting up his feet. Here, he talks to Simon Garfield about American homophobics and English eccentrics, and why doing Corrie proves ‘he can’t be a star’. [More]