A new episode of David Tennant’s podcast series David Tennant Does A Podcast With... is now live. 
This week David's guest is the legendary and highly respected actor Sir Ian McKellen.
Sir Ian, who turns 80, later this year is the recipient of six Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BIF Award, two Saturn Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and two Critics' Choice Awards. He has also received two Oscar nominations, four BAFTA nominations and five Emmy Award nominations.
Sir Ian’s career spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. The BBC states that his "performances have guaranteed him a place in the canon of English stage and film actors". A recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK, he is regarded as a British cultural icon.


 He started his professional career in 1961 at the Belgrade Theatre as a member of their highly regarded repertory company. In 1965, he made his first West End appearance. In 1969, he was invited to join the Prospect Theatre Company to play the lead parts in Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe's Edward II, and he firmly established himself as one of the country's foremost classical actors. In the 1970s, McKellen became a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain.
He has achieved worldwide fame for his film roles, including the titular King in Richard III (1995), James Whale in Gods and Monsters (1998), Magneto in the X-Men films, and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.



Sir Ian was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1979 Birthday Honours, was knighted in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to the performing arts, and made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality in the 2008 New Year Honours.
He has been openly gay since 1988, and continues to be a champion for LGBT social movements worldwide.
Ian he was 48 when he came out, but tells the podcast that he wishes he had told  his parents. He explained: “It’s the greatest regret of my life that I didn’t tell them. My mother died when I was 12 and my father when I was 24, so I didn’t talk to either of them about it.”
He added that he hopes that other actors will come out sooner, insisting sexuality would not affect job opportunities for them.

 “I feel sorry for them. I know they’d be happier if they did . . . What’s so important about acting that you’d live a lie? How could being successful as an actor be compensation for that?”

 Sir Ian is currently embarking on a nationwide tour of the UK to celebrate his 80th birthday year. 
Although most venues are sold out, you can check for ticket availability on the official site here. 

Produced by Somethin’ Else and No Mystery with Georgia Tennant, new episodes of David Tennant Does A Podcast With... will be released on Tuesdays. Expect revealing conversation, surprise stories and lots of laughs as David chats to the likes of Jon Hamm, Michael Sheen, Samantha Bee, Krysten Ritter and Gordon Brown, with many more names on the way.

Listen to the podcast now on Spotify, iTunes, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts from!