Some would say Sir Ian McKellen has always been light on his feet. Openly gay, actively political, the Knighted actor thinks pink and uses his place in the public spotlight for the good of queers young and old. But X-Men finds him literally floatin' around, as Magneto, the baddest and most bitter mutant on earth.
Adapted from the famed Marvel comic, by Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer, and screenwriter David Hayter, director Singer's ( Apt Pupil, The Usual Suspects ) X-Men imagines humankind having taken the next step in evolution. When hitting puberty, many adolescents find themselves cursed/blessed with unusual powers, from the ability to manipulate the weather to hop like a frog to steal people's very lifeforce. And this first wave of mutants is under attack by right-wing members of the government and ignorant citizens who seem them as different and dangerous to society ( can we relate or what, my fellow fags? ) . Erik Lehnsherr, aka Magneto, is one of these mutants, a powerful and madly bitter man who has suffered his entire life at the hands of barbaric human beings. As a child, his parents were dragged from him and gassed by the Nazis, and he's determined to let nothing threaten him, nor his fellow mutants, again. His former colleague and friend, Professor Charles Xavier ( Patrick Stewart ) , feels the same way, but would rather take the path of non-violence, and try to foster an understanding between mankind and mutantkind, then just fuck their shit up. So with their respective gangs of like-minded mutants, the struggle begins. We recently rang up McKellen at the late hour of 1 a.m. to talk about Magneto, bitterness, and tasty little treats. And although a little tired, the charismatic, admitted late-nighter was, as always, soaring high.
Outlines: I loved the film, Ian.
Ian McKellen: You're the first person I know who's seen it. That's good.
Outlines: And you get to float! Has that always been a dream of yours?
IM: Well, I did Peter Pan recently at the National Theater in London playing Captain Hook, one of the few main characters who doesn't fly. And I was really envious when they went soaring over our heads. But now that I've done it myself, it's not quite as comfortable as it looks. The smiling faces you see belie what's happening lower down in the body."
Outlines: Do you enjoy playing bad guys, Ian?
IM: Well, it depends if they're well written or not. If they are, they're usually better parts than the good guys. But I would never want to play a stereotype, like a standard villain who was trying to control the world for reasons unknown except that the hero needs someone to kill at the end.
Outlines: They really gave a great set-up for Magneto, a strong motivation for what he wants to do. And speaking of, the film is very much a metaphor for the crap gay people put up with. How would you like to be the vengeful Magneto of gays, stringing up a pair of idiots, for instance?
IM: As for me being a gay Magneto, I think probably I tend to—philosophically and politically—side with Charles Xavier rather than Magneto in that I don't think violence gets you anywhere in the end. On the whole I'm a Xavier man in real life.
Outlines: But how many times do you feel the Magneto BITTERNESS?
IM: Although I think gays have a lot to be bitter about, I'm angry, and anger is a more positive feeling because to assuage it you should do something and fight in whatever way you can. Many times I read about some gay person being disadvantaged, whether it's the extremity of Matthew Shepard's case or someone losing their job or being abused verbally ... sometimes that's myself, and yes, one feels ''this isn't right.' But I think a bitter queen implies just talking about it, complaining about it, and doing nothing about it. What are you? A bitter queen who's just a mouth. Better to write a letter, or write something for the newspaper or say something in an interview, better to start an argument and win it than just mouth off in private about how the world should be a better place.
Outlines: Have you known your share of bitter queens?
IM: ( laughs ) I dare say it's a good enough phrase and applies to things I've done and said. But it's probably a little bit unfair, because there are plenty of straight people who behave like bitter queens ( laughs ) .
Outlines: What initially drew you to the role? Did Bryan offer it right off the bat?
IM: Yeah, he did. He added the compliment of saying he hadn't asked anyone else to play it first.
Outlines: And I understand he was well aware of its relevance to queers and issues of prejudice.
IM: He clearly understood that it would relate strongly to gay people, and the film was going to make that very clear. He didn't just want it to be an adventure action movie, but that the basic philosophical and political argument was an important one and was going to be fully there. On top of the joy of working with him again, there was also the fun of being in this sort of big movie, the feeling that it was a big movie with a message that the audience is sure to hear.
Outlines: Was there a certain approach you took to Magneto?
IM: Well, I went back and looked at a lot of comics on the experts' advice. Not just people on the movie, but people who e-mailed me through my website ( www.mckellen.com ) . So I got a clear notion of his history. Of course, over 35 years of his history isn't in a single line. Often the things that have happened to Magneto contradict each other. But basically he carries the injustice that was done to his parents, who were killed by evil forces, and that's before he realized he's a mutant. Once he realizes his life is permanently in danger, even though the Third Reich doesn't exist anymore, he carries through that determination to rid the world of anything that might endanger him and his kind, and thinks the ends justifies the means.
Outlines: Who's a bigger threat to society? Magneto or the Dussander, the retired Nazi you in Apt Pupil?
IM: ( wry laugh ) Well, they can't be compared really, because one is a fairy tale and the other is fiction based on fact. I don't connect the two. I think someone like Dussander, who willingly obeys the orders of a corrupt and evil—I don't like to use that word—philosophy like Nazism, is greatly to blame because there's absolutely no justification for what they did. Magneto is in a quandary because he's under attack and it's the response to that attack which leads him to do things some people might think inappropriate. So I would say Dussander perhaps. At least Dussander is a very, very normal sort of person, very ordinary, and one of the dreadful things to learn of the Third Reich is that ordinary people are prepared all too easily to do dreadful things to other people.
Outlines: In both of Bryan's films you've worked opposite sex symbols, but of a radically different stripe. In X-Men you've got Patrick Stewart, who makes a lot of gay men swoon, and in the case of Apt Pupil, teen heartthrob Brad Renfro, who makes a lot of other gay men swoon.
IM: Don't forget Brendan Fraser in Gods and Monsters.
Outlines: Oh that's right, of course ( although Singer didn't direct that one ) ! Who's the hottest of them all?
IM: ( laughs ) Well, I don't think of any of them in those terms now that I know them. But I've known Patrick for years and years and years—when he had hair for example. Like me, he was working in the classical theater in London and I still see him as the old mate from London. The other two I didn't know before, and they were fun to work with in their different ways. I think Brendan's career is one to be watched very carefully, I think he's got enormous potential. ... I was very interested in who was going to be playing Clayton Boone, the gardener. When I first saw Brendan he was so absolutely right physically, and then when I realized he was able to act the part well, it was all sorts of relief and pleasure involved there.
Outlines: How was working with Brad?
IM: Brad's a different case altogether. I suppose I was 40 years older than he was and a lot more experienced. However, his experience with films is considerable and I was just aware of how different we were as actors, different techniques we have. But we got on very well as people and I'm very fond of him as I think he is of me.
Outlines: Was he open minded?
IM: Of gays? Absolutely! No problem with it at all. Not being gay, he very sweetly flirts with the old gentleman looking lonely in the corner. And then gets on with his own life. If he's an example of the younger generation's attitude to gays then the world is really getting to be a better place.
Outlines: How much of a comic book fan were you before X-Men came your way?
IM: Not at all. The only comic I knew well as a kid was an English one called The Eagle. But I've never been someone who's collected comics. I find them rather difficult to understand, to tell the truth.
Outlines: Are you contracted to appear in X-Men sequels?
IM: Yeah, I think along with the rest of the cast, we've all agreed under certain conditions to do another film.
Outlines: Is Aussie Hugh Jackman, who plays the metal-clawed Wolverine, going to be the next big gay sex symbol?
IM: Wouldn't that be nice. I'm sure he emerges from the film very strongly, he's gorgeous to look at, extremely talented, and on top of that one of the nicest people you could possibly meet. Resolutely straight as far as I know. He and his partner just adopted a child, but very gay friendly. If people decided to have him as a symbol I'm sure he'll be flattered.
Outlines: Will the next step in evolution be gayness?
IM: Well, I tend to think everybody IS gay, but straights tend to think everybody is probably straight, and the truth is somewhere in between I expect.
Outlines: How are things going on Lord of the Rings down there in New Zealand?
IM: I'm in a hiatus at the moment. I go back after X-Men and do another five months, and I'm really enjoying it enormously. I'm enjoying being in New Zealand, which is a very, very beautiful small country. The script is astonishing, and I've got a fabulous part [ Gandalf ] , so I'm a very happy bunny really and looking forward to being back.
Outlines: Do you get to play opposite Elijah Wood?
IM: Oh yes, we have a lot of scenes together.
Outlines: And finally, how aware are you of your own sex symbol status, Ian? I'm sure all the Patrick Stewart queens are going to get all hot and flustered by the scenes between the two of you, desperately trying to see sexual subtexts and whatnot.
IM: Well, I'm not aware of myself as a sex symbol—I wouldn't object if I were. It's one of the functions of actors to let people fantasize.
Visit Ian's website, where you can e-mail him and/or peruse the just-added 10-most-asked McKellen questions.
