Hollywood actor Ian McKellen, known for his roles in Lord of the Rings and X Men, has talked about Hollywood being ignorant about minorities. The 78-year-old actor has been open about his sexuality and supports the LGBTQ community.
In a recent interview with Time Out, the actor was asked about his view on Dumbledore’s not being shown ‘explicitly gay’ in the Fantastic Beasts sequel, to which he replied, “That’s a pity.”
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“Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world. Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don’t exist,” McKellen added.
Recalling the 1998 film that he starred in, he continued,“Gay men don’t exist, Gods and Monsters, I think, was the beginning of Hollywood admitting that there were gay people knocking around, even though half of Hollywood is gay.”
The actor came out publically 30 years ago in an interview aired on BBC radio. McKellen was then denied a role because he is a homosexual.
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Recounting a story when he auditioned for Harold Pinter’s 1983 film Betrayal, McKellen said producer Sam Speigel asked him if he would be taking his family with him on a trip to New York. “I said, ‘I don’t have a family, I’m gay’. I think it was the first time I came out to anyone. Well, I was out of that office in two minutes. It took Pinter 25 years to apologise for not sticking up for me,” Ian McKellen said.