Acting legend Ian McKellen, who is over 80 years old, has no plans to retire from performing anytime soon.
In a recent interview with Variety, McKellen was asked about the prospect of retirement. The beloved actor doesn’t see a reason to willingly step away from doing something he so much enjoys as long as he can physically keep doing it.
McKellen explained:
“Retire to do what? I’ve never been out of work, but I’m aware that any minute now something could happen to me which could prevent me from ever working again. But while the knees hold up and the memory remains intact, why shouldn’t I carry on? I really feel I’m quite good at this acting thing now.”
McKellen’s love for performing on the stage never went away, having recently joined the stage productions of Mother Goose and Frank and Percy. He also has a new movie, The Critic, which will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday, Sept. 11 (at 12 PM ET at the Princess of Wales Theater).
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In the film, directed by Anand Tucker, McKellen plays a newspaper critic in 1934 London. Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, and Lesley Manville also star. This follows Ian McKellen’s feature film appearances in Cats (2019) and Infinitum: Subject Unknown (2021).
