Sir Ian Became Actor to Meet Gays

Sir Ian McKellen, one of the most acclaimed performers in the English-speaking world, initially became an actor to meet other gay people, according to an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. The 70-year-old Oscar-nominated star of films such as Gods and Monsters, who also has a lengthy resume of stage performances, says in the interview, portions of which are translated on the website ContactMusic, that he felt isolated as a young man and thought he might meet other gay people if he embarked on a career in the theater.

McKellen came out publicly as gay in 1988, which he reveals his agent at the time warned him against doing. "I'm not urging anyone to do the same, but the alternative option is horrible: lies, fear, secrecy," he says. "Every self-confessed homosexual I have met assured me his coming out was the best decision of his life."