New role is a clue to Ian McKellen’s acting greatness

A giant of English film and theatre, Ian McKellan looks set to enchant another generation with his portrayal of London’s most famous detective as a frail recluse in his 90s says Will Lawrence

THEATRE director Tyrone Guthrie taught Ian McKellen to take risks, to dare and “to jump off the end of the pier and see if you can swim,” says the actor.

“Guthrie taught me to demand things of myself that I didn’t know whether I could do.” Risk-taking ran contrary to McKellen’s early years. As a gay man in postwar Britain, where homosexuality was illegal, he was rather reserved. “I was very shy as a boy,” he says.