Sir Ian McKellen Encourages Fellow Actors to Come Out: 'Being in The Closet is Silly'

English actor Ian McKellen called on closeted gay actors to “come out” and “get into the sunshine” in an interview published Sunday in The Times of London. McKellen, 85, came out in a radio interview with the BBC in 1988, before going on to co-found an LGBTQ rights charity in the U.K. called Stonewall a year later.

via: Them

While speaking to the Times of London in a recent interview about his advisory role on a new production of Richard II, the Lord of the Rings actor said that he wished everyone who was gay, including people in his profession, would come out, noting, that there has never been an out gay British prime minister, best actor Oscar winner, or Premier League soccer player. (Former Everton midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger played in the Premier League, but came out after retirement.)

“I have never met anybody who came out who regretted it,” McKellen told the Times of London. “I feel sorry for any famous person who feels they can’t come out. Being in the closet is silly — there’s no need for it. Don’t listen to your advisers, listen to your heart. Listen to your gay friends who know better. Come out. Get into the sunshine.”

McKellen also compared the situation between athletes and actors, suggesting that both are most likely being advised by managers, agents, and publicists to stay quiet about their sexuality.

“I would imagine young footballers are probably, like actors, getting very bad advice from agents who are worried about their own incomes,” McKellen said. “But the first Premier League footballer to come out will become the most famous footballer in the world, with all the agencies begging for his name on their products.”

Even as social acceptance of LGBTQ+ people has broadly increased, many actors remain in the closet for fear of career damage. For some projects, being out and gay can affect how one’s work can be marketed internationally, if at all. As recently as 2022, high-profile films such as Black Panther 2 were facing threats of being banned in the China over LGBTQ+ content, while explicitly gay dialogue was cut from Fantastic Beasts before its Chinese release.

McKellen is not the only screen legend hoping that more closeted actors find the strength to show their true selves to the general public. In 2021, Oscar winner Kate Winslet shared that she knew several gay actors in the closet and that she hoped they would be able to come out some day.

“I cannot tell you the number of young actors I know — some well-known, some starting out — who are terrified their sexuality will be revealed and that it will stand in the way of their being cast in straight roles,” she said. “Now that’s fucked-up.”

She added that she knew “at least four” actors who are “hiding their sexuality. “It’s painful, because they fear being found out,” she said.

Despite the persistence of the Hollywood closet, the number of out LGBTQ+ actors in the industry is clearly rising, with actors like Jonathan Bailey not only getting lead roles in hit projects like Bridgerton and Wicked, but also — gasp! — playing straight in them, as well.

“I was hyperaware of the complexities and nuances of how I felt about myself being a gay man, let alone a gay actor, and suddenly finding success in playing a straight part and talking about that,” Bailey told Vanity Fair in November.

The desire to see queer actors come out has long been a sticking point for gay fans and critics alike. In 1981, film historian — and eventual GLAAD co-founder — Vito Russo wrote in his landmark book The Celluloid Closet, “The public should in fact be aware of the sexuality of gay actors just as it is aware of the heterosexuality of the majority. I do not believe that such a discussion is nobody’s business, nor do I believe that it is one of a sexual and therefore private nature.”