Sir Ian McKellen opens with the worst advice he’s ever received. The advice came from an unexpected source: “Star Wars” legend, sir. Alex Guinness. The conversation took place during a new interview in which the “Lord of the Rings” actor answered questions from fans.
Sir Ian McKellen responds: “What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?
Sir Ian McKellen has revealed that he once had a conversation with the late ‘Star Wars’ actor Alec Guinness about his campaign for LGBTQ+ rights. The discussion took place during an interview with The Guardian, when he answered questions sent in by readers. One question was: “What is the worst advice anyone has ever given you?” »
McKellen explained that he first met Guinness in 1979 after the late actor attended a performance of McKellen’s play “Bent.”
“Alec Guinness sat rather demurely in my dressing room, raving about the play before inviting me to dinner. I stupidly refused, but a decade later I had a second chance to meet the great man,” McKellen said.
Alec Guinness was apparently against McKellen’s advocacy work
Sir Ian McKellen says Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Alec Guinness begged him to stay silent on gay rights:
“He took me to an Italian lunch in Pimlico, where we chatted about this and that until he brought up the real reason for his invitation. He had heard about my work for… pic.twitter.com/41ZjznqKTM
– Pop Base (@PopBase) May 11, 2026
During that lunch, McKellen revealed that Guinness had tried to persuade him to abandon his advocacy work out of concern for his acting career.
“He took me to an Italian lunch in Pimlico, where we chatted about this and that until he brought up the real reason for his invitation. He had heard about my work to create Stonewall, a lobby group charged with making the case to the government and the world for equal legal treatment of British lesbians and gays with the rest of the population,” he continued.
“He found it somewhat inappropriate for an actor to meddle in public or political affairs and advised me, and sort of begged me, to step aside,” he explained, later calling it “advice from an older generation” that he “did not follow.”
Ian McKellen came out as gay in 1988
During a BBC radio interview in 1988, McKellen revealed his sexual identity and remained a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights over the years. In the interview, McKellen said the conversation came back to him while he was watching a stage show called “Two Halves of Guinness.”
McKellen described it as “a one-man show that hints at Sir Alec’s latent bisexuality in a way that I suspect would have upset him.”
The late actor died in 2000 at the age of 86. however, in 2001, reports came out that he was bisexual. The BBC reported that the “Lawrence of Arabia” actor hid his sexuality from the public, but was considered an outcast by family and friends.
Guinness was married to actress and playwright Merula Silvia Salaman. They welcomed a son named Matthew Guinness, now 85 years old.
Sir Ian McKellen enjoys long acting career
McKellen is a well-known figure in pop culture. He will reprise his role as Magneto from “X-Men” in “Avengers: Doomsday,” which hits theaters in December. He is also expected to reprise his role as the wizard Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” which is scheduled for release in 2027.
Elijah Wood will reprise his role as Frodo Baggins and Lee Pace will reprise his role as Thranduil from “The Hobbit.” Andy Serkis will reprise his role as Gollum and Sméagol, while Leo Woodall and Kate Winslet will join the franchise as new characters. Although many fans were hoping that Viggo Mortensen would return to reprise his role as Aragorn, his role has been recast and will instead be played by Jamie Dornan.
McKellen teased his return to ‘Lord of the Rings’ in August 2025
In August 2025, McKellen announced his return to Middle Earth during the For the love of fantasy fan event in London, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. “I’m going to tell you two secrets about the casting: There’s a character in the movie named Frodo, and there’s a character in the movie called Gandalf,” he said at the time.
“Besides that, my lips are sealed! he joked amid gasps from the audience.
Although the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy ended in 2023 with “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” McKellen and Wood reprized their roles in the “Hobbit” trilogy, which ran from 2012 to 2014.
In addition to “The Hunt for Gollum,” fans can also expect veteran late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert to co-write another “Lord of the Rings” storyline titled “Shadow of the Past,” which will take place after “The Hunt for Gollum.” It will be written by Colbert, Philippa Boyens and Peter McGee.
