Sir Ian McKellen responds to Damian Lewis' "fruity actor" comments

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Following Homeland star Damian Lewis' controversial comments about not wanting to end up a "fruity actor" known only for playing wizards, Sir Ian McKellen has said no one should feel sorry for him.

Lewis said in October that he worried in his 20s he might become "one of these slightly over-the-top, fruity actors who would have an illustrious career on stage, but wouldn't start getting any kind of film work until I was 50 and then start playing wizards".

McKellen responded by saying, "I wouldn't like to have been one of those actors who hit stardom quite early on and expected it to continue and was stuck doing scripts that I didn't particularly like just to keep the income up.

"I've always wanted to get better as an actor. And I have got better. You've only got to see my early work to see that."

He also added: "As for a fruity voice? Well, it may be a voice that is trained like an opera singer's voice: to fill a large space. It is unnatural.

"Actors have to be heard and their voice may therefore develop a sonorous quality that they can't quite get rid of, so you think actors are as pompous as their voice is large. I suppose Damian was thinking of that a little bit, too."

[Guardian]

[Independent]