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Acting

Ian McKellen

Career: Active from 1965 to 2027, with up to 4 main titles a year.

Leading roles: 76
top three billing

Average score: 64/100

Highest rated: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
91/100

What stands out

Compared with the average well-known movie, over 75 of their titles. Select a trait to filter titles.

Ian McKellen Catalog average

Rarely in their work

Contemporary Realism
2.4, average 5.4
Crime
2.9, average 3.6
Cringe Humor
1.6, average 2.2
Sports
0.1, average 0.7

Main genres

Select a genre to see those titles.

Recurring tags

Political Intrigue 8
Character Study 8
Historical Drama 7
Character-Driven 7
Social Commentary 6
Psychological Thriller 5
Epic High Fantasy 4
Visual Spectacle 4
Mystery 4
Melancholy 4
Moral Corruption 3
Redemption Arc 3

Works often with

People in at least two of their main titles.

Movies and TV shows

129

Type

Role

Score

Decade

Genre

Group by

Upcoming

1 title

as Spooner

2020s

14 titles · average score 66

The Christophers

78

as Julian Sklar

Frank and Percy

as Percy

LS Lowry: The Unheard Tapes

as L S Lowry

Ebenezer

as Jacob Marley

Avengers: Doomsday

as Magneto

The Critic

57

as Jimmy Erskine

Dragfox

as Ginger Snap the Fox (Speaking) (voice)

Hamlet

66

as Hamlet

ted

75

TV show · as Narrator (voice)

The One Note Man

63

as Narrator (voice)

Infinitum: Subject Unknown

55

as Dr. Charles Marland-White

Great British Theatre

TV show

2010s

25 titles · average score 66

The Good Liar

62

as Roy Courtnay

Cats

31

as Gus, the Theatre Cat

All Is True

63

as Earl of Southampton

National Theatre Live: No Man's Land

75

as Spooner

Mr. Holmes

73

as Sherlock Holmes

The Dresser

81

as Norman

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

65

as Gandalf the Grey

X-Men: Days of Future Past

81

as Magneto

Miss in Her Teens

41

as The Prologue

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

73

as Gandalf the Grey

Vicious

72

TV show · as Freddie Thornhill

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

69

as Gandalf the Grey

2000s

25 titles · average score 60

The Prisoner

41

TV show · as 2 / Curtis

King Lear

69

as King Lear

The Golden Compass

52

as Iorek Byrnison (voice)

The Da Vinci Code

49

as Sir Leigh Teabing

Flushed Away

69

as The Toad (voice)

The Magic Roundabout

27

as Zebedee (voice)

Asylum

45

as Dr. Peter Cleave

Neverwas

39

as Gabriel Finch

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

91

as Gandalf

Emile

51

as Emile

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

90

as Gandalf

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

90

as Gandalf

1990s

27 titles · average score 68

Family Guy

64

TV show · as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)

Apt Pupil

58

as Kurt Dussander

Gods and Monsters

79

as James Whale

Swept from the Sea

48

as Dr. James Kennedy

Bent

70

as Uncle Freddie

Rasputin

71

as Tsar Nicholas II

Richard III

82

as Richard III

Restoration

66

as Will Gates

The Shadow

51

as Dr. Reinhardt Lane

The Ballad of Little Jo

70

as Percy Corcoran

Six Degrees of Separation

73

as Geoffrey

Gladio

as Aldo Moro (voice)

1980s

16 titles · average score 68

The Simpsons

83

TV show · as Ian McKellen (voice)

Countdown to War

66

as Adolf Hitler

Scandal

76

as John Profumo

Windmills of the Gods

61

TV show · as Chairman

Plenty

57

as Sir Andrew Charleson

The Keep

46

as Dr. Theodore Cuza

Walter and June

as Walter

The Scarlet Pimpernel

77

as Chauvelin

Walter

66

as Walter

Priest of Love

55

as D.H. Lawrence

Pillar of Fire

TV show · as Narrator

as Antony Skipling

1970s

12 titles · average score 69

Macbeth

75

as Macbeth

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour

as Alexander Ivanov

The South Bank Show

63

TV show

as Tony

Playhouse

TV show · as Alexander

as George Tesman

Country Matters

TV show · as David Masterman

as David Masterman

The Tragedy of King Richard II

as King Richard II

Edward II

as King Edward

Hamlet

as Hamlet

TV show

1960s

9 titles · average score 58

A Touch of Love

65

as George

Alfred the Great

52

as Roger

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

TV show · as Lyov

ITV Playhouse

TV show · as Tony

David Copperfield

TV show · as David Copperfield

The Trial and Torture of Sir John Rampayne

as Wolf

BBC Play of the Month

61

TV show · as George Tesman / Simon Bliss

The Wednesday Play

TV show · as Wolf

Coronation Street

54

TV show · as Mel Hutchwright