Better living via wizardry

Despite all of his acting accolades, Sir Ian McKellen is best known these days as the wise wizard Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy -- he received a supporting actor Oscar nomination two years ago for “The Fellowship of the Ring” -- and as the charismatic but villainous Magneto in the “X-Men” franchise.

Long before he was a wizard or mutant, McKellen was known as one of the English-speaking world’s greatest actors. He made his acting debut in 1961 and within a few years joined Laurence Olivier’s new National Theatre Company at the Old Vic. Over the past four decades, the 64-year-old actor has won dozens of awards for his performances on both stage and screen, including a Tony for his performance as Salieri in the original 1981 Broadway production of “Amadeus.”

The actor, who was knighted in 1990, has made more than 30 movies, including the 1996 film version of his acclaimed stage production of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” He received an Academy Award nomination as best actor in 1998’s drama “Gods and Monsters” for his moving turn as gay film director James Whale. McKellen, who came out as a gay man in 1988, is also highly involved with gay issues and appeared in HBO’s landmark 1993 drama about AIDS, “And the Band Played On.”

He dons his long white hair and beard as Gandalf yet again in the highly anticipated final installment in the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” which opens Dec. 17. When he was in town recently, McKellen had just seen only 40 minutes of the film, but he recommended that fans might want to bring a box of tissues with them to the theater.

Is it odd after working on stage for decades and being knighted for your classical film, theater and TV work that you are now best known for “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men”?

It’s lovely. That is a new sort of acting and I feel like I am learning all over again. The fans are so lovely. I know that is not me they are meeting. They are meeting the man who knows Gandalf better than anybody else. I am like the Father Christmas in Neiman Marcus. I am not the real Gandalf. The real Gandalf is somewhere else, but I can represent him. I am his agent. I ride in his chariot, as it were. The same with Magneto. He is extremely popular as well. A lot of black kids who wouldn’t have been able to see me on stage, they relate to me. I seemed to have entered their world.

Why African American children?

I know, having talked to Marvel, that “X-Men” is their favorite publication. Spider-Man is Superman. It’s the same story -- shy boy turns into superhero. But “X-Men” is about what it means to be an outsider, what it is like to be a mutant, what it is like to be born different and what do you do with your talent. The demographic that has stuck with “X-Men” from the start are young blacks, young Jews and young gays.

Are you surprised with the popularity of the “Lord of the Rings” films even among people who weren’t fans of the books?

This story is about good and evil, but you never get to meet the evil guy who rules the world. He’s a force, a spirit. The guys you see are the good guys who get on with each other, who suffer and try to make the world a better place. Isn’t it good that a movie about people like that should be so popular? People want good people to triumph.

Did you find the character of Gandalf once you got into his hair and makeup?

There is a little passage in Stanislavsky [the famed Russian actor, director and teacher] that says, if all else fails, if you haven’t managed to delve back into your emotional past and begun to relate to the character, sit in front of the mirror and pull faces until you see the character in the mirror. If I look at myself in the mirror and see a character, I can, like a bit of DNA, translate it to every other part of my body.

We went through quite a few faces for Gandalf, and then suddenly they just got the length of the beard right, and I added a twinkle in the eye and a twist of the eyebrow. They put the hat on my head and everybody just relaxed and said, “There’s Gandalf.” Once I had seen it [in the mirror], it was easy.

So what’s “Return of the King” going to be like?

It is very emotional, this one. Is Frodo going to make it? This is a movie with an ending. The other two didn’t have an ending, so this is a series of climaxes.

-- Susan King