‘We went bankrupt and had to set up the explosives ourselves’: Ian McKellen and Richard Loncraine on making Richard III
‘The movie changed my life,’ says McKellen of the 1995 film. ‘If Bryan Singer hadn't seen it, he would never have asked me to be in X-Men’
The waiting is over! Have the times finally caught up with Godot?
Samuel Beckett’s groundbreaking play is back again, this time starring Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati. Its tragicomic take on existence may match our cultural moment
Ian McKellen pulls out of Player Kings national tour after fall from stage
Actor says he is reluctantly following medical advice to ‘protect my recovery’
June 2024
Ian McKellen’s understudy to perform in final London dates of Player Kings
Ian McKellen ‘looking forward to returning to work’ after falling off stage
I was Ian McKellen’s understudy – I know how he must feel after his accident
David Weston
Ian McKellen expected to make ‘speedy recovery’ after falling off stage
Week in geek
Hunt for Gollum: are Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen being quietly dropped?
Top-price West End theatre tickets rise by 9% in a year and reach £300
April 2024
The week in theatre: Player Kings; Red Pitch; Underdog: The Other Other Brontë – review
Player Kings review – Ian McKellen’s richly complex Falstaff is magnetic
March 2024
When an outgoing Tory minister like Robert Halfon channels Gandalf, the magic of Tolkien begins to pall
Alex Clark
Ian McKellen’s Player Kings to tour England
February 2024
The film’s the thing: Ian McKellen’s new Hamlet shows the screen can outdo the stage
Michael Billington
Sean Mathias has reimagined his 2021 production of Shakespeare’s tragedy as a movie, inventively using Windsor’s Theatre Royal and capturing McKellen’s subtle performance
January 2024
The many faces of Falstaff: Shakespeare’s tragicomic knight is as complex as Hamlet
Ian McKellen follows in the footsteps of David Warner and Antony Sher as he takes on a character who has been played as wittily jovial and cruelly cunning
December 2023
2024 culture preview
The best theatre, dance and comedy tickets to book in 2024
The new year’s hottest shows include stage versions of Minority Report, Spirited Away and La Strada, performances by Keeley Hawes and Ian McKellen – plus laughs from Julia Masli, Rhod Gilbert and Ania Magliano
Ian McKellen reprises Hamlet for new film version
Actor plays Shakespeare’s tragic prince in film shot at Theatre Royal Windsor, where he starred in a 2021 stage version
My best shot
Ian McKellen becoming Mother Goose: Frederic Aranda’s best photograph
‘He’s in his dressing room, minutes before going on stage as a panto dame. “Snap away,” he said. “Whatever you like. You don’t need to ask.” So I felt free to get stuck in’
October 2023
‘His talent and enthusiasm never waned’: Blood Brothers and Evita producer Bill Kenwright
Trigger warnings are a gift when I’m writing for the stage
