A director who worked with Sir Ian McKellen on one of his first major movie roles has slammed the actor being overlooked for an Oscar for it.
The 85-year-old thespian, who is regarded as one of Britain’s finest stage and screen actors, made his name in theatre in the 1960s and largely trod the boards and worked in TV for the following 25 years.
After appearing in a few films over the course of the 1980s and early 1990s, including Scandal and The Shadow, it wasn’t until 1995 that he took on his first titular role for a cinematic release with a film adaptation of Richard III.
Based on the 1990 National Theatre production he had starred in, directed by Sir Richard Eyre, Richard Loncraine helmed the movie version, which he co-wrote with Sir Ian, based on William Shakespeare’s original play.
Reflecting on the film, which also starred Annette Bening, Robert Downey Jr, Kristin Scott Thomas and Dame Maggie Smith, Loncraine felt it was a crime that Sir Ian wasn’t recognised by the Academy as a best actor nominee.
‘It was iniquitous that Ian didn’t receive an Oscar nomination,’ the filmmaker told The Guardian, nearly 30 years after its release.
And for any of us reaching for the exact definition of ‘iniquitous’ it is something characterised as ‘grossly unfair and morally wrong’ – so Loncraine was pulling no punches with his statement.
‘At the premiere, Warren Beatty, Annette’s husband, got down on his knees in the lobby and bowed to me in front of 150 people. I thought: “F***ing hell, that is praise indeed”,’ he continued.
The Wimbledon director then added: ‘What I wasn’t prepared for was seeing him do it again five days later to another director, which tells you a bit about how Hollywood works.’
Quips aside though, Sir Ian also revealed to the publication that it was Richard III that announced his arrival in Hollywood as he was suddenly ‘being considered seriously as a film actor’.
He also received nominations for both a Golden Globe and two Baftas.
The Lord of the Rings star explained that if director Bryan Singer hadn’t seen the film, he wouldn’t have been cast in Apt Pupil or, ultimately, as Magneto in X-Men, observing that ‘Richard III the movie changed my life’.
Sir Ian, who has yet to win an Oscar, has since been nominated twice – for his lead turn as James Whale in 1998’s Gods and Monsters and for best supporting actor for his career-defining role as the wizard Gandalf in 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, a part he would play five more times.
All in all, he has also received five Emmy nominations and won a Golden Globe for his performance as Tsar Nicholas II in the TV movie Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny.
He also has a Tony Award and six Olivier Awards to his name for his stage work.
Sir Ian made headlines in June when he fell offstage during a performance of Player Kings, a new version of Shakespeare plays Henry IV: Parts 1 and 2, in which he was portraying Sir John Falstaff.
Although he was forced to end his run in the play due to the accident, the national treasure has luckily since made a full recovery.