Lord of the Rings Star Ian McKellen Says Obi-Wan Actor Alec Guinness Told Him to Drop Support for Gay Rights Charity

Years before his starring roles in The Lord of the Rings and X-Men, Ian McKellen met with Star Wars’ original Obi-Wan actor Alec Guinness, who advised him to drop support for a gay rights charity.

According to McKellen, he was invited to lunch by Guinness so the two British thespians could have a chat. But later in the meal Guinness brought up McKellen’s work with Stonewall, a notable gay rights charity, and advised him to stay out of political issues.

The event has come to light now in an interview with The Guardian, where McKellen was asked about the “worst piece of advice” he’d ever been given.

“[Guinness] took me for an Italian lunch in Pimlico, where we chatted about this and that until he brought up the real reason for his invitation,” McKellen answered. “He had heard about my work to establish Stonewall – a lobby group to present to the government and the world at large the case for treating UK lesbians and gays equally under the law with the rest of the population.

“He thought it somewhat unseemly for an actor to dabble in public or political affairs and advised me, sort of pleaded with me, to withdraw,” McKellen continued. “Advice from an older generation, which I didn’t follow.”

It’s unclear exactly when this meeting occurred, though the suggestion is it was around the time of Stonewall’s founding in 1989. In the years since, the organization successfully challenged the UK’s ban on gay and lesbian members of the armed forces, and backed the introduction of same-sex marriage, along with numerous other pieces of legislation.

Guinness died in 2000, following a decades-long career in film that saw him win an Academy Award, Tony Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA. Like McKellen, he was knighted for his work.

McKellen is currently starring in The Christophers, a movie about two siblings who conspire to forge their father’s unfinished paintings so they become valuable after his death. And, of course, he will soon reprise his role as Magneto to feature in Avengers: Doomsday, due in theaters this December, and his role as Gandalf in next year’s in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

Photo by Screen Archives/Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social