Ian McKellen is an Oscar-nominated thespian whomhas excelled at everything from Shakespeare to sci-fi on both the stage and screen. Let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1939 in Lancashire, England, McKellen first came to prominence on the stage, appearing in a number of classic plays from the likes of Anton Chekhov and William Shakespeare (including an acclaimed production of “Richard III” that he brought to the screen in 1995). His performance as Salieri in the 1981 production of “Amadeus” brought him a Tony award as Best Actor in a Play.
McKellen appeared in films sporadically throughout this period, earning his first starring role in “Priest of Love” in 1981. He became increasingly recognizable onscreen throughout the 1990s, earning his first Oscar nomination when he was 59-years-old: Best Actor for “Gods and Monsters” (1998). For his acclaimed performance as “Frankenstein” (1931) director James Whale, McKellen won prizes at the Independent Spirits and Critics Choice Awards (shared with “Apt Pupil”) and competed at SAG and the Golden Globes.
He returned to the Oscar race three years later for his supporting turn as Gandalf the wizard in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), a role he reprised in two sequels and three prequels. The role brought him a SAG win and BAFTA nomination, as well as the undying affections of fantasy fans everywhere.
McKellen won a Golden Globe as Best TV Supporting Actor for “Rasputin” (1996). He competed at the Globes again for “Richard III,” which also brought him BAFTA bids for acting and writing. He competed at the BAFTAs again as Best Supporting Actor for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) and for the TV movie “The Dresser” (2015). He earned SAG Ensemble nominations for all three “LOTR” films, winning for “ROTK.”
On the TV side, McKellen earned Emmy bids for his performances in “And the Band Played On” (1993), “Rasputin,” “Great Performances: King Lear” (2009), and “The Prisoner” (2009), as well as for a memorable guest appearance on “Extras” as (what else?) an actor.
Tour our photo gallery of McKellen’s 12 greatest films, including some of the titles listed above, as well as “X-Men” (2000), “The Da Vinci Code” (2006), “Mr. Holmes” (2015) and more.
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12. APT PUPIL (1998)
Image Credit: John Baer/Pheonix/Columbia Tristar/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay by Brandon Boyce, based on the novella by Stephen King. Starring Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, David Schwimmer, Bruce Davison, Ann Dowd, James Karen, Elias Koteas, Joe Morton, Jan Triska, Michael Byrne, Heather McComb, Joshua Jackson.
“Apt Pupil” is a nasty little movie that’s made almost watchable by the strong performances at its center. Brad Renfro stars as a high school student studying the Holocaust who notices his neighbor (McKellen) resembles a former Nazi war criminal. He threatens to expose his identity unless he provides him with gory details of his crimes. The premise — adapted from a Stephen King novella — is compelling, and the film itself is capably made by Bryan Singer. Yet it leans too heavily on horror tropes that turn its hallowed subject into ugly melodrama. Still, McKellen is mesmerizing as an unrepentant monster now tortured by a teenager.
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11. SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (1993)
Image Credit: MGM/Maiden/New Regency/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Fred Schepisi. Screenplay by John Guare, based on his play. Starring Will Smith, Stockard Channing, Donald Sutherland, Ian McKellen, Mary Beth Hurt, Bruce Davison, Richard Masur, Anthony Michael Hall, Heather Graham.
Although it’s best known for being the movie that helped launch Will Smith’s big screen career, this Fred Schepisi-helmed satire features stellar work from its entire cast. Adapted from John Guare’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, the film stars Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing (in an Oscar-nominated role) as an affluent New York couple who fall under the spell of a young man (Smith) claiming to be Sidney Poitier’s son. Turns out they’re just the latest victims of a duplicitous con man scheming his way through the Upper East Side. McKellen appears as a South African businessman who is similarly charmed by Smith.
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10. THE HOBBIT TRILOGY (2012, 2013, 2014)
Image Credit: New Line/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Peter Jackson. Screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien. Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm.
Peter Jackson and company tried to recapture the magic of their Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy to middling success. The gang’s all back together again (well, some of them, anyway) for this prequel, which finds hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) teaming up with the wizard Gandalf (McKellen) and thirteen dwarves to reclaim their mountain home from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). While the production value is as spectacular as it was with “LOTR” (especially the creation of the CGI fire-breather) the slim story is stretched to its very limit over the course of three movies, causing the narrative to crumble under its own weight.
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9. ALL IS TRUE (2018)
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Classics Directed by Kenneth Branagh. Written by Ben Elton. Starring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Lydia Wilson, Kathryn Wilder, Jimmy Yuill.
McKellen has often excelled with the works of William Shakespeare on both the stage and screen, so he’s a natural choice for a biopic about the playwright. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars in “All Is True,” which centers on the last days in the Bard’s life. Judi Dench costars as his wife, Anne Hathaway, while McKellen has a few juicy scenes as the Earl of Southampton. Rather than focus on the creations of his many masterpieces, Branagh turns a spotlight on Shakespeare’s personal life as a husband and father, making for a fascinating character study of an enigmatic figure.
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8. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017)
Image Credit: Disney/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Bill Condon. Screenplay by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, based on the Disney film written by Linda Woolverton and the story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson.
McKellen’s distinctive baritone has been used to great effect in voiceover performances, most recently in this live action adaptation of Disney’s beloved animated classic. The story of Belle (Emma Watson), a headstrong young woman held captive by a prince (Dan Stevens) who’s been turned into a beast, is beautifully mounted by Bill Condon, with extravagant sets and costumes recreating the haunted castle. The house servants-turned-household objects are brought to life through CGI, with McKellen playing the fussy clock Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor voicing the charming candelabra Lumiere, and Emma Thompson embodying the motherly teakettle Mrs. Potts.
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7. THE DA VINCI CODE (2006)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Ron Howard. Screenplay by Akiva Goldsman, based on the novel by Dan Brown. Starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jurgen Prochnow, Paul Bettany, Jean Reno.
“The Da Vinci Code” and its sequels are first-rate trash, scorned by critics and lapped up by audiences. That’s not surprising: the books by Dan Brown are a favorite for readers, and, as directed by Ron Howard, their ludicrous plots make for perfect potboiler entertainments. The initial entry in the franchise finds professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) trying to crack a code embedded in Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” that could shake the foundations of Christianity to its core. McKellen tears into the scenery like it were a delicious ribeye as Sir Leigh Teabring, a British historian who believes the Holy Grail is encoded in the painting.
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6. RESTORATION (1996)
Image Credit: Segue Prods/Avenue/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Michael Hoffman. Written by Rupert Walters. Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Neill, Meg Ryan, David Thewlis, Polly Walker, Ian McKellen, Hugh Grant.
In Michael Hoffman’s “Restoration,” Robert Downey, Jr. dons a frilly wig and puffy shirt to play a 17th century medical student who enjoys a life of debauchery after saving King Charles II’s (Sam Neill) favorite spaniel, only to be cast out when he falls in love with one of the King’s favorite mistresses (Polly Walker). Meanwhile, the Black Plague and the Great Fire devastate London. McKellen brings his usual bravado to the role of a cunning palace servant. Eugenio Zanetti’s production design and James Acheson’s costumes lavishly recreate the decadence of the royal court and the destitution of the London streets, and both won well deserved Oscars.
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5. MR. HOLMES (2015)
Image Credit: Ai-Film/See-Saw/Archer Gray/Bbc/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Bill Condon. Screenplay by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel ‘A Slight Trick of the Mind’ by Mitch Cullin. Starring Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada, Milo Parker.
“Mr. Holmes” reunited McKellen with “Gods and Monsters” director Bill Condon, and while it fails to live up to their previous collaboration, it nevertheless provides the actor with one of his best late-career roles. He plays the famous sleuth at the end of his life, suffering from early dementia and reflecting on his last, unsolved case, seen through flashbacks. The heart of the film lies in Holmes’s relationship with the young son (Milo Parker) of his no-nonsense housekeeper (Laura Linney), who hangs on his every word while helping him tend to his bees. A slight entertainment that’s buoyed by McKellen’s endlessly charming performance.
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4. THE X-MEN SERIES (2000, 2003, 2006, 2014)
Image Credit: Attila Dory/20th Century Fox/Marvel Ent Group/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner. Screenplays by David Hayter, Tom De Santo, Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, Zak Penn, Simon Kinberg, Jane Goldman, and Matthew Vaughn, based on the comics created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. Starring Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Ray Park, Anna Paquin, James Marsden, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming, Kelsey Grammer, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage.
Though they vary wildly in quality (the less said about the Brett Ratner-directed “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the better), the “X-Men” series helped point the superhero movie towards a more nuanced, adult direction that made it an artistically-viable genre. With its large cast of characters, it’s easy for individual performers to get lost in the shuffle, yet McKellen is a standout as the villainous Magneto, who leads an army of mutants hell-bent on overtaking humanity. He spars with his former friend, X-Men commander Professor Charles Xavier (played by an equally mesmerizing Patrick Stewart), who runs a school that teaches gifted children how to use their powers for good. Watching these two veterans (who are real life friends) go head-to-head with each other is as thrilling as any action sequence.
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3. RICHARD III (1996)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Richard Loncraine. Written by Ian McKellen and Loncraine, based on the play by William Shakespeare. Starring McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Nigel Hawthorne, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, John Wood.
Among the many films that transplant Shakespeare’s work into modern times, Richard Loncraine’s “Richard III” is one of the best. It takes as its inspiration McKellen’s revered 1990 stage performance for the National Theater, which transports the Bard’s classic play to an alternative 1930s London where fascism has swept the country. The actor chews the scenery with glee as the evil hunchback who murders and manipulates his way into becoming King. At times snarling, slimy, and funny, this is the definitive interpretation of the character (all due respect to the great Laurence Olivier, who played the role in a 1955 version). McKellen competed at the Golden Globes and BAFTA for the performance, but (in a fate that’s even crueler than the one that befalls Richard) he was snubbed at the Oscars.
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2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY (2001, 2002, 2003)
Image Credit: Pierre Vinet/New Line/Saul Zaentz/Wing Nut/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Peter Jackson. Screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, based on the novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, John Noble, Karl Urban.
When McKellen bellowed “You shall not pass!” in the first “Lord of the Rings” movie, he officially became a hero to fantasy fans everywhere. The actor treats the role of Gandalf the wizard as if it were written by Shakespeare, bringing a grandiosity to his performance that makes the character truly seem larger than life (while some trick photography makes him look larger than the hobbits). Director Peter Jackson mounts his trilogy about a quest to destroy an all-powerful ring with a scope that harkens back to the epics of David Lean, creating a mythical world unlike anything we’ve ever seen. The films earned a cumulative 30 Oscar nominations and 17 wins, including Best Picture for the concluding chapter, “The Return of the King.” McKellen won a SAG award and earned a Supporting Actor Oscar bid for the first entry, “The Fellowship of the Ring,” losing at the Academy to Jim Broadbent (“Iris”).
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1. GODS AND MONSTERS (1998)
Image Credit: Spike Prod/BBC/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Bill Condon, based on the book ‘Father of Frankenstein’ by Christopher Bram. Starring Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich.
McKellen gives the performance of his career as “Frankenstein” director James Whale, seen in the last days before his tragic suicide in 1957. An openly gay man in a time when most homosexuals were still locked behind the closet door, Whale lives a life of luxury, still feisty despite a series of strokes that have left him debilitated. Into his life comes a handsome young gardener (Brendan Fraser) who reignites his desires, much to the dismay of his disapproving housekeeper (Lynn Redgrave). Director Bill Condon won an Oscar for his adapted screenplay, which uses flashbacks to weave together Whale’s past and present (including a recreation of the making of his “Bride of Frankenstein”). McKellen earned raves for his deeply affecting performance as a dying man grasping for one last bit of love before the curtain falls. He earned an Oscar bid as Best Actor, losing to Roberto Benigni (“Life is Beautiful”).
