Ian McKellen: Don’t call me ‘Sir’

Veteran gay actor Ian McKellen has revealed that he does not like using his title of ‘Sir’, despite being knighted in 1991.

The Lord of the Rings star was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Savannah Film Festival yesterday.

On being addressed as Sir Ian McKellen, he said: “Well, it’s not my name. No, my name is Ian McKellen. That’s my professional name and I don’t like [Sir] to be used on billing.

“I don’t like to see it in the theater, either,” he said. “You don’t want to be separated out from your colleagues. On the whole, I ask people to drop it.”

According to the Savannah Morning Herald, he also spoke about his character Gandalf in Lord of the Rings.

He revealed that he was in talks to reprise the role in prequel The Hobbit and that the film will be released in two installments.