Sir Ian McKellen gets honest about critics, his historic gay kiss & the queer appeal of the X-Men

Over 60 years into an illustrious career on stage and screen, Sir Ian McKellen doesn’t give a damn what critics say—unless it’s something nice!

As with most actors, McKellen’s relationship to the art of artistic analysis has had its up and downs, and he’s used his experience on the receiving end of reviews (the good and the bad) as fuel for his starring role in the dramatic period piece thriller The Critic, from Shopgirl director Anand Tucker.

With a script from Notes On A Scandal‘s Patrick Marber, the film finds the 85-year-old legend playing Jimmy Erskine, a revered and feared London theater critic at odds with his newspaper’s new ownership which prefers what they print to be more family—and fascist—friendly.

Like McKellen, Jimmy is gay,

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