Sir Ian Mckellen may be 76 years old, but he's certainly no slouch when it comes to social media. The legendary actor, famous to modern audiences for his roles as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men, held an "Ask Me Anything" session on the popular discussion site Reddit and answered many questions from his fans regarding his long and storied career.
He talked about his relationship with fellow actor Sir Patrick Stewart, who plays the role of Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men movies:
Patrick and I have known each other since we in the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 70s. Im the guy who advised him not to do Star Trek. We've recently become friends through X-Men and we did two plays together. and I married him to his lady Sunny. So all and all we've become very close to each other.
Mckellen also talked about the recently deceased Christopher Lee, who starred with him in The Lord of The Rings as the White Wizard Saruman. Mckellan says that Lee originally wanted the part of Gandalf:
It's not a rumor, it's true. He told me at our first meeting that he always thought he would be good casting as Gandalf.
He also shared his thoughts on Sherlock Holmes, one the many roles he has played over the years and his opinion on Benedict Cumberbatch's take on the detective:
The simple unique idea of Mr. Holmes is that he is not a fictional character. Was a real person. We meet him first at the end of his life, when he is looking back at the mystery that sent him into retirement.
So my Holmes is different form all the rest in the the is so old. He is a real man. And the Holmes everyone thinks they know through the Dr. Watson Version is incorrect. So it's a mystery to learn what mr. Homes was rally like. I loved playing the part.
There is a lot more cool stuff in the AMA. Check it out here.
