Ian McKellen: It's all about pleasing your parents

Ian McKellen tells Jeananne Craig that for him, acting fulfils a profound need for acceptance.

When the young Ian McKellen showed an interest in becoming a performer, his mother, Margery, was more supportive than most parents might be of such an unpredictable profession.

“Apparently she said, ‘If Ian decides to be an actor, it’s a good job, because it brings pleasure to people’,” says the actor, now 77.