Sketch profiles for Ian McKellen's quintessential characters. Click EasyEdit to update this page!
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Character name: Richard III
Appears in: Richard III
Date(s): December 1995
Award(s): Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations
| | Character back story: William Shakespeare's classic play is brought into the present with the setting as Great Britian in the 1930s. Civil war has erupted with the House of Lancaster on one side, claiming the right to the British throne and hoping to bring freedom to the country. Opposing is the House of York, commanded by the infamous Richard who rules over a fascist government and hopes to install himself as a dictator monarch. | | Inspiration for character: | | Age/Occupation: | | Personality type: | | Signature look: | | Resides: | | Character connections: | Fun facts/trivia:
* Ian McKellen wrote the screenplay while touring the play. Originally he thought it would be a television production, but he soon realized that the large production he envisaged would require the budget of a feature film. Still on tour, he began to consider screen actors he met for roles in the film, including Patrick Stewart, Danny DeVito, and Meryl Streep.
* Ian McKellen made Clarence a photographer to amplify the fact that he never noticed anything. He was merely seeing the events, not watching them. Therefore, he never realized how evil Richard actually is.
* Ian McKellen made Queen Elizabeth an American because this way, her family and herself could be seen as social-climbers, from commoners to royalties.
| | | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Richard: [to the Duke of Buckingham] I am not in the giving vein today.
- Richard III: Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.
- Richard: While I can smile... And murder while I smile!
- Queen Elizabeth: I have no more sons of the royal blood for you to slaughter.
Richard III: You have a daughter. - [last lines]
Richard III: Let us to't pell-mell, if not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.
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Character name:
Gandaf the Gray/ Gandaf the White
Appears in: The Lord of the Rings trilogy
Date(s) and Award(s):
The Fellowship of the Ring - December 2001 - Won 4 Oscars. Another 75 wins & 84 nominations Two Towers - December 2002 - Won 2 Oscars. Another 65 wins & 76 nominations Return of the King - December 2003 - Won 11 Oscars. Another 106 wins & 68 nominations
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| Character back story: Gandalf the Grey, a wizard who gave Frodo, a hobbit the task to carry the One Ring to Rivendell, where he would made a yourney with Gandalf, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry, Pippin and Samwise into the mountans of Mordor to destroy One Ring. Their biggest enemy Sauron gather his army to destroy all humans and return his ring. After a fellowship fell apart during one attack and Gandaf duel with Balrog, Gandaf became further known as Gandalf the White. He, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Aragorn and Pippin went to Rohan, to bring King Theoden back from trance he was in for a long time, kept by his slimy assistant, Grima Wormtongue under a comand of evil wizard and Saurons servant, Saruman. Frodo and Sam continue their way to the Mordor with a help of creature Gollum. Gandaf continue his journey with Pippin towards Gondor, while the rest of the fellowship gathered army with Rohans and ride to join them in the final battle. | | Inspiration for character: | | Age/Occupation: | | Personality type: | | Signature look: | | Resides: | | Character connections: | Fun facts/trivia: * Legolas's arrows in the final battle are computer generated. It would not have been physically impossible for the most gifted archer to fire off so many arrows so quickly.
* Large amounts of hair had to be imported into New Zealand for all the wigs. They found some women in Russia who were cutting their hair and selling it to film-makers.
* The hobbits needed to appear about three to four feet tall - tiny compared with the seven-foot Gandalf. This was often accomplished using forced perspective, placing Ian McKellen (Gandalf) consistently closer to the camera than Elijah Wood in order to trick the eye into thinking McKellen is towering.
* John Rhys-Davies, who plays Gimli the dwarf, is the tallest of the actors who play members of the Fellowship. He is 6' 1" and he also provided the voice for Treebeard.
* Ian McKellen based Gandalf's accent on that of J.R.R. Tolkien himself. | | | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Gandalf: Keep it secret. Keep it safe.
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Gandalf: Keep it secret. Keep it safe.
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Gandalf: My dear Frodo. Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you. - Gandalf: Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn look to the east.
- Gandalf: [to Pippin] Now, listen carefully. Lord Denethor is Boromir's father. To give him news of his beloved son's death would be most unwise. And do not mention Frodo, or the Ring. And say nothing of Aragorn either. In fact, it's better if you don't speak at all, Peregrin Took.
Gandalf: So it begins, the great battle of our time. -
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Character name:
Eric Lensherr / Magneto
Appears in: X-Men trilogy
Date(s): and Award(s):
X-Men - July 2000 - 11 wins & 23 nomination X2 -May 2003 - wins & 32 nominations X-Men: The Last Stand - May 2006 - 4 wins & 29 nominations
| | Character back story: His family died from a hands of the Nazis, he escaped when he discovered he could control methal object. He and another fellow mutant Charls Xavier formed a school for young mutants. While Xavier wants a peaceful means of stopping the hatred toward mutants, Magneto seeks to even things out with a machine that would speed up the mutation process in all humans, making everyone equal. After his capture, he escaped from his plastic prison with a help of mutant partner Mistique, he meet in Boston with the rest of X-Men, working together to stop Stryker and rescue Professor X, who was kidnapped. After several months since The X-Men stopped William Stryker, Magneto organize an army of mutants and wage his war against the humans. | | Inspiration for character: | | Age/Occupation: | | Personality type: | | Signature look: | | Resides: | | Character connections: | Fun facts/trivia:
* When in full Mystique makeup, about 60 percent of Rebecca Romijn's body was covered in prostheses.
* Toad was originally a hunchback, but that was changed so as not to interfere with Ray Park's martial arts abilities.
* Neither Patrick Stewart nor Sir Ian McKellen know how to play chess. * Most of the actors from the scene in the museum where Professor X freezes everyone were actually mimes, who are used to not moving. Likewise, mimes were used for the final scene in the Oval Office.
* Angel's wings were initially too heavy for Ben Foster, and were remade from foam.
* Ian McKellen (Eric Lensherr/Magneto) and Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier) had 20 years shaved off their features for the opening sequence. The filmmakers used digital technology to match current features to those in old photos.
* The X-Man Colossus' real name in this movie is Peter Rasputin, but in the Marvel Comics his first name is actually Piotr and he is of Russian decent. The actor portraying him does not use an accent.
| | | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | - Magneto: [Magneto uses his power to stop the X-Jet from crashing] When will these people learn how to fly?
- Magneto: You homo sapiens and your guns.
[Stryker comes to interrogate Magneto]
Magneto: Ah, Mr. Stryker! Come to see that American tax dollars are keeping me comfortable? -
Eric Lensherr: Charles always wanted to build bridges. - Eric Lensherr: Did you think you were the only one of your kind, young lady?
Prof. Charles Xavier: We're mutants, Jean. We're like you.
Young Jean Grey: Really? I doubt that.
[everything behind her begins to levitate]
Eric Lensherr: Oh, Charles, I like this one. - Eric Lensherr: [to Logan] I know the smell of your adamantium from a mile away.
- Eric Lensherr: In chess, the pawns go first.
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Character name:
Appears in:
Date(s):
Award(s): | | Character back story: | | Inspiration for character: | | Age/Occupation: | | Personality type: | | Signature look: | | Resides: | | Character connections: | | Fun facts/trivia: | | | Character Quotes & Catchphrases | | | | | |
