Ian McKellen on How He Became Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings | BAFTA Insights

Ian McKellen discusses his cult role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings series and how he coped with the success after the first film's release.
Produced in 2015.

#BAFTA #BAFTAGuru #IanMcKellen #LordoftheRings #Lotr #Gandalf #PeterJackson

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[tonyjames]

How refreshing. An interviewer not constantly interupting and letting a guest actually relay his story!

[mattg]

Ian Mckellan is never late to a role he takes it precisely when he means too.

[wheelsdeal]

I think him and Christofer Lee as Saruman was the absolute perfect casting

[gpeddino]

"Gandalf is not interested in sex, he's 7000 years old!"
LOL

[joeydrummer]

I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Gandalf. He just killed that part .. Greatest movie ever made in my opinion

[Mr.Winston-the-third]

"All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us"

[jettison]

omg thank goodness he didn't do mission impossible

[BrandoCommando]

Props to the interviewer for getting him talking and not interrupting

[Txepsiyu]

McKellen has that quality of all great actors: He is humble, but carries great power.

[Nightgaunt]

Every pause in his response is pure poetry. Only a theatre man could hold a live audience in the palm of his hand like that.

[bid]

You can see why he's such a great actor: because he's a naturally gifted story teller! And it's also cool that he tells it like it is, rather than mythologising as many stars do

[kennethperry]

He IS Gandalf. No other human could have embodied that character the way he did. Probably the best casting choice of all time. The whole cast was brilliantly chosen.

[MechaBorne]

You heard it here first, Gandalf invented blogging.
Ian is such a wonderful man, I'm glad everything worked out for him to play Gandalf and Magneto.

[iamalpharius]

He read the Hobbit when he was young.
was never young. He was created witht all of the Aunir and will endure until it is all undone and the world is broken.
is Olórin.

[Candlelighter]

The interviewing here is actually great. Like at 1:40 where he basically cudve asked something else but stayed silent. Shutting up is a key skill that most interviewers dont have

[Rekaert]

I remember hearing the casting news, and I wasn't familiar with Ian McKellen at the time. I checked some pictures of him, checked his resume, and I was really none the wiser. I figured I'd have to wait until I saw him in costume and playing the part as he really hadn't done anything like Gandalf for me to get an idea how he'd be.

By the end of the Fellowship's Hobbiton opening, I was sold on him.

Whenever I read LotR now, I can't help but visualise McKellen as Gandalf. He fit the role about as perfectly as I could hope for.

[christel]

Please be around for much more longer Sir McKellen :)

[jomonticristo]

they should be asking Gandalf when he decided if would be fun to play Ian McKellen

[davidtimmer]

Ian McKellen would make an excellent grandfather.

[MorganTDaniels]

He is quite humble. A huge part of the success of the LOTR movies was due to his portrayal of Gandalf. He was so perfect in presence, and performance, I can think of no one on the planet who was more suited. It is such a key role. How could you have made them without Ian McKellen, impossible! They would have been nowhere near as good.