Ian McKellenFilmography

The Prisoner

Actors: James Caviezel, Ian McKellen, Lennie James, Ruth Wilson, Jamie Campbell Bower, Hayley Atwell

King Lear

Actors: Ian McKellen

Synopsis: Famed theatrical producer Richard Price and directors Trevor Nunn and Chris Hunt teamed with Britain's legendary Royal Shakespeare Company to create this film version of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear, with the masterful Ian McKellen (Scandal, Richard III) in the title role. The said production Read More

The Golden Compass

Actors: Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green

Synopsis: A young girl embarks on a perilous journey to rescue her best friend and fight the forces of darkness in director Chris Weitz's adaptation of the first installment of author Philip Pullman's best-selling fantasy trilogy. Screen newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as young heroine Lyra Belacqua, Casino Royale Read More

Stardust

Actors: Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller

Synopsis: A charmingly naïve boy from the English village of Wall travels to a magical, mythical world in search of the falling star that will help him win the heart of his true love in this fantasy adventure starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ricky Gervais, and Sienna Miller Read More

For the Love of God

Actors: Steve Coogan, Ian McKellen, Julia David

Extras: Ian McKellen

Flushed Away

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Bill Nighy

Synopsis: A previously pampered society mouse must fight his way back to the comforts of Kensington after he is sent spiraling into an underground world filled with scavenger rats and villainous toads in a fun-filled family adventure produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features and featuring the Read More

Saint of 9/11

Actors: Ian McKellen

Synopsis: Glenn Holsten's Saint of 9/11 documents the life of Franciscan monk Mychal Judge, who died during the attack on the World Trade Center. This man of the cloth led a full and varied life that involved him battling alcoholism, ministering to the first wave of AIDS victims in the '80s (Holsten himself Read More

X-Men: The Last Stand

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin

Synopsis: The explosive X-Men motion picture trilogy officially draws to a close with this release that finds Rush Hour director Brett Ratner stepping in for Bryan Singer to tell the tale of a newly discovered mutant "cure," and the polarizing effect it has on mutant/man relations. With the pressure on Read More

The Da Vinci Code

Actors: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow

Synopsis: Dan Brown's controversial best-selling novel about a powerful secret that's been kept under wraps for thousands of years comes to the screen in this suspense thriller from director Ron Howard. The stately silence of Paris' Louvre museum is broken when one of the gallery's leading curators is found Read More

Displaced

Actors: Mark Strange, Malcolm Hankey, Stephanie Fend, Cathy Miller, Graham Brownsmith, Stuart McDermid

Synopsis: A humanoid alien and a British soldier team up to procure a highly classified document containing valuable information about revolutionary energy production, captured space crafts, and the extraterrestrial's imprisoned father in the ambitious directorial debut of writer/director Martin Holland. Read More

Asylum

Actors: Ian McKellen, Natasha Richardson, Marton Csokas, Hugh Bonneville, Judy Parfitt

Synopsis: Directed by David Mackenzie, Asylum follows a 1950s family living in a home on the grounds of an asylum after Max (Hugh Bonneville), the patriarch, is assigned to serve as deputy director of a remote psychiatric hospital. Neither his wife, Stella (Natasha Richardson), nor his young son, Charlie Read More

Doogal

Actors: Jon Stewart, Tom Baker, Robbie Williams, Daniel Tay, Jimmy Fallon, Bill Nighy, William H. Macy, Jim Broadbent, Whoopi Goldberg, Joanna Lumley

Synopsis: A plucky little girl and her dog join their magical pals to save the world in the computer-animated comedy-adventure for the whole family. The Enchanted Village is a happy place ruled by the good-natured wizard Zebedee where young Florence and her dog, Doogal, come to play with their friends Read More

Emile

Actors: Ian McKellen, Deborah Kara Unger, Theo Crane

Synopsis: Independent Canadian filmmaker Carl Bessai directs Emile, the final entry in his identity trilogy that started with Johnny and Lola. Ian McKellen plays Emile, a retired university professor who travels from England to his hometown in Canada in order to accept an educational honor. Visiting the Read More

Neverwas

Actors: Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, Brittany Murphy, Nick Nolte, William Hurt

Synopsis: A man seeks to unlock the mysteries of his family's tragic past in this drama. Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist who has resigned a prestigious position at a major university to take a job at the Millwood Clinic, a private residential facility run by one Dr. Reed (William Hurt). Riley Read More

Ringers: Lord of the Fans

Synopsis: Explore the influence of author J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings on modern popular culture in this revealing documentary narrated by Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan. For over fifty-years fans of Tolkien's literary masterpiece have bonded over tales of brave hobbits and evil wizards, and Read More

Eighteen

Actors: Paul Anthony, Clarence Sponagle, Alan Cumming, Brendan Fletcher, Ian McKellen

Synopsis: A troubled teen on the verge of manhood if forced to fend for himself when, on his 18th birthday, he is estranged from his family and effectively rendered homeless in a soul-searching drama starring Alan Cumming, Ian McKellen, and Brendan Fletcher. Alone on the streets and uncertain what to do Read More

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Actors: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom

Synopsis: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brings Peter Jackson's mammoth adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic to a close in suitably epic fashion. Instead of starting just where the previous film left off, however, it goes far back in time to the moment the tormented creature Gollum first Read More

X2: X-Men United

Actors: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry

Synopsis: When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry Read More

Churchill, Part 3: The Last Prize

Churchill, Part 1: Destiny

Churchill, Part 2: The Lion's Roar

Churchill [TV Documentary Series]

Synopsis: This three-hour overview of the life and career of Sir Winston Churchill was originally seen on British television as a three-part series. Episode one, "Destiny" coves the years from Churchill's birth in 1874 to his first fall from political grace in 1931, years distinguished by a troubled and Read More

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Actors: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett

Synopsis: The second film in Peter Jackson's series of screen adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's internationally popular Lord of The Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers literally begins where The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ended, with the Fellowship splitting into three Read More

Saturday Night Live: Ian McKellen

Actors: Ian McKellen, Kylie Minogue

Synopsis: This 2002 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Ian McKellen and features musical guest Kylie Minogue. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide Read More

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Actors: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Bean

Synopsis: New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson fulfills his lifelong dream of transforming author J.R.R. Tolkien's best-selling fantasy epic into a three-part motion picture that begins with this holiday 2001 release. Elijah Wood stars as Frodo Baggins, a Hobbit resident of the medieval "Middle-earth" who Read More

X-Men

Actors: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden

Synopsis: One of the most popular superhero teams in comic book history finally comes to the screen in this big-budget adaptation of the long-running Marvel Comics series. Psychic Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) leads a school of skilled mutants called X-Men, a peacekeeping force to safeguard the world Read More

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

Actors: Cirque du Soleil, Brian Dewhurst, Nicky Dewhurst, Anait Karagyezyan, Mikhail Matorin

Synopsis: The artists of the internationally acclaimed performing arts troupe Cirque du Soleil appear in this dramatic fantasy, shot in the high-definition IMAX format, which celebrates the human spirit as it follows the life of one man from childhood to old age. The Taiko Drummers perform in a sequence Read More

David Copperfield

Actors: Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Ciarán McMenamin

Synopsis: A distinguished cast highlights this made-for-TV adaptation of one of Charles Dickens' best-loved novels. Young David Copperfield (Daniel Radcliffe) is loved by his mother Clara (Emilia Fox), but does not get along with his foul-tempered stepfather, Murdstone (Trevor Eve). After biting Murdstone Read More

Gods and Monsters

Actors: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, Kevin J. O'Connor

Synopsis: Gods and Monsters was promoted from the outset as an artistic drama, but the publicity tended to play coyly on the possibility of a homosexual romance between the retired film director James Whale, played by Ian McKellen and his hunky gardener Clayton Boone (Brendan Fraser). While the film does Read More

Apt Pupil

Actors: Kevin Pollak, Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Bruce Davison, Elias Koteas, Joe Morton, David Schwimmer

Synopsis: Bryan Singer directed this Brandon Boyce adaptation of Stephen King's novella about teenager Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro), who discovers Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander (Ian McKellen) living in his California hometown. Fascinated with Dussender's wartime atrocities, Bowden blackmails the former Read More

A Bit of Scarlet

Synopsis: Comprised of compiled footage from over 60 years of British cinema, this playful documentary from Andrea Weiss brims with cliches and stereotypes associated with homosexuality. Each segment is introduced via a narrator who briefly points out certain rules for the portrayal of gays in British Read More

Bent

Actors: Mick Jagger, Clive Owen, Lothaire Bluteau, Brian Webber

Synopsis: Sean Mathias directed this screen adaptation of Martin Sherman's award-winning play about the persecution of homosexuals by Nazis during World War II. In Germany, the Nazi party's program of genocide against any and all perceived "enemies" is coming into full swing when the party begins a violent Read More

Swept From The Sea

Actors: Vincent Perez, Rachel Weisz, Ian McKellen, Joss Ackland, Kathy Bates

Synopsis: Swept From the Sea was inspired by a short story by Joseph Conrad. Set in late 19th-century Cornwall England in a small farming community, the story is told via flashback in a conversation between Dr. James Kennedy (Ian McKellen) and his patient Miss Swaffer (Kathy Bates). Dr. Kennedy despises Read More

Rasputin

Actors: Alan Rickman, Greta Scacchi, Ian McKellen

Synopsis: Rasputin is a dramatization of the life story of one of the most intriguing figures in all history. A crude peasant from Siberia, Rasputin (Alan Rickman) was a self-styled charismatic holy man who traveled widely, openly engaging in drunkenness, sexual indulgences, and general debauchery. In the Read More

Richard III

Crew: Executive Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Ian McKellen, Annette Bening, Jim Broadbent, Robert Downey, Jr., Nigel Hawthorne

Synopsis: Richard Loncraine takes Shakespeare's classic tale of treachery, Richard III, and transplants it to the 1930s. Ian McKellen is Richard who, as the film opens, begins plotting against his brother Edward, who has just ascended to the throne after a bloody civil war. Richard begins by seducing and Read More

Cold Comfort Farm

Actors: Kate Beckinsale, Sheila Burrell, Eileen Atkins, Ian McKellen, Ivan Kaye

Synopsis: Stella Gibbons' popular novel was published in 1932, and it has been adapted twice for British television, first as a miniseries in 1971, then by director John Schlesinger in 1995. That version proved so popular that it was released to theaters in the U.S. The heroine of Gibbons' story, Flora Read More

Jack and Sarah

Actors: Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Eileen Atkins

Synopsis: A temperamental London lawyer adapts to the challenges of fatherhood when he is left with sole responsibility for his infant daughter in this well-performed British comedy-drama. Richard E. Grant stars as Jack, a high-pressure attorney who believes his life is on the right track: a successful Read More

Thin Ice

Synopsis: Lesbians on ice provide the focus of this British drama. Steffi and Natalie are amateur skaters at the same rink in London. Steffi and her partner, a journalist, are going to write a mainstream article about lesbian participation in the June 1994 Gay Games in New York. Steffi's partner bows out Read More

The Shadow

Actors: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle, Ian McKellen

Synopsis: A crime fighter created in the 1930s and popularized in movies, pulp novels, and a radio show starring a young Orson Welles, The Shadow came back to life in 1994 in this slick, well-cast production. Alec Baldwin stars as Lamont Cranston, a murderous opium dealer reformed by a Tibetan mystic, who Read More

Restoration

Actors: Robert Downey, Jr., Sam Neill, David Thewlis, Polly Walker, Meg Ryan

Synopsis: This lavish historical drama based on the acclaimed novel by Rose Tremain won Oscars for Costume Design and Art Direction. Robert Downey, Jr. stars as Robert Merivel, a gifted medical student of the 17th century who ignores his studies in favor of pursuing debauched fun -- much to the Read More

Stonewall 25: Voices of Pride and Protest

I'll Do Anything

Actors: Nick Nolte, Whittni Wright, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Joely Richardson, Tracey Ullman

Synopsis: James L. Brooks' showbiz comedy I'll Do Anything is "The Musical That Almost Was" (after test screenings Brooks removed all the musical numbers in the film, turning the film into a songless romantic comedy). Matt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) is a hardly working actor who finds himself raising his 6-year-old Read More

Six Degrees of Separation

Actors: Stockard Channing, Will Smith, Donald Sutherland, Ian McKellen, Mary Beth Hurt

Synopsis: Two socialites find their view of the world changed when a young man takes advantage of their preconceptions in this thoughtful comedy-drama. Flan and Ouisa Kittredge (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing) are a married couple who have built highly successful careers as art dealers catering to Read More

The Ballad of Little Jo

Actors: Suzy Amis, Bo Hopkins, Ian McKellen, David Chung, Carrie Snodgress

Synopsis: The Ballad of Little Jo is based on a true story -- several true stories, in fact. Suzy Amis plays demure young Josephine Monagan, who in 1866 is run out of her home town after bearing an illegitimate child. Fleeing westward, Josephine is terrified by stories of how treacherous the frontier can be Read More

Last Action Hero

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austin O'Brien, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Frank McRae, Anthony Quinn, Charles Dance, Mercedes Ruehl

Synopsis: Arnold Schwarzenegger appears as a pumped-up Shakespearian hero while an announcer bellows, "Something is rotten in Denmark -- and Hamlet is taking out the trash!" This gag sets the stage for the post-modernist action epic The Last Action Hero. The film concerns Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien), a Read More

And the Band Played On

Actors: Richard Gere, Anjelica Huston, Alan Alda, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin

Synopsis: The late journalist Randy Shilts' best-selling book on the burgeoning AIDS crisis was adapted for cable TV by Arnold Schulman. In 1981, researchers begin discerning a mysterious new disease that apparently affects only homosexual males (or so they thought at that time). Working independently, and Read More

Othello

Synopsis: This powerful production of Shakespeare's Othello by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1990 features renowned actor Ian McKellan as the conniving Iago and was directed by Trevor Nunn. Imogen Stubbs and Willard White star as Desdemona and Othello in this award-winning production of the timeless Read More

Scandal

Actors: John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda, Ian McKellen, Leslie Phillips

Synopsis: In 1963, the conservative British government was shaken to its foundations by the Profumo Scandal. The central character in this disastrous affair was John Profumo, Britain's minister of war, who had become sexually involved with call-girl Christine Keeler, whose "sponsor" was high-priced Read More

Countdown to War

Actors: Michael Aldridge, Alex Norton, Barrie Rutter, Ian McKellen

Synopsis: Countdown to War is a unique docudrama featuring actual private papers and diaries of the major players of World War II. Actor Ian McKellen portrays Hitler using recreated dialogue taken from the man himself. Behind-the-scenes events that predated the war are presented. Authentic meetings and Read More

Windmills of the Gods

Actors: David Ackroyd, Michael Moriarty, Franco Nero, Jaclyn Smith

Synopsis: Windmills of the Gods was adapted for television by John Gay from a best-selling novel by Sidney Sheldon. Jaclyn Smith plays an American college professor, appointed US ambassador to Romania. While attending a peace conference, Jaclyn's life is placed in jeopardy by an all-powerful secret Read More

Suleyman the Magnificent

Synopsis: The Ottoman Empire reached its highest development under Suleyman, who reigned from 1520-1566. This program chronicles the rule of the Moslem leader, whom Europeans named "The Magnificent." His vast empire extended to three continents; but it is what went on inside his territory that made Suleyman Read More

Loving Walter

Actors: Ian McKellen, Sarah Miles, Barbara Jefford, Arthur Whybrow, Paula Tilbrook

Synopsis: Director Stephen Frears' Loving Walter combines 1982's Walter, produced for Britain's Channel Four, and its sequel, 1983's Walter and June. Based on the best-selling book by David Cook, the story details the plight of Walter (Ian McKellan), a moderately retarded man, after the deaths of his Read More

Plenty

Actors: Meryl Streep, Charles Dance, Tracey Ullman, John Gielgud, Sting

Synopsis: Plenty boasts a cast of actors ranging from John Gielgud as an ethical and caustic senior diplomat to Meryl Streep as Susan Traherne, a woman looking for solace and a decent life in the aftermath of World War II. After World War II has ended, along with her work in the French Resistance movement Read More

Zina

Actors: Domiziana Giordano, Ian McKellen, Philip Madoc, Micha Bergese

Synopsis: Zina (Domiziana Giordano) is the daughter of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. When her father is exiled, Zina heads to Berlin in hopes of leading a normal life. Tormented by nightmares, Zina turns to a psychiatrist (Ian McKellan) for aid. The doctor comes to the conclusion that Zina's nocturnal Read More

The Keep

Actors: Scott Glenn, Alberta Watson, Jürgen Prochnow, Robert Prosky, Gabriel Byrne

Synopsis: The Keep is an ambitious visual feast from director Michael Mann, whose previous effort was the moody, stylish Thief, and who would soon produce the quintessential pastel-colored '80s TV series Miami Vice. Adapted from the novel by F. Paul Wilson and set in German-occupied Romania of 1943, the Read More

Walter and June

Actors: Ian McKellen, Sarah Miles

Walter

Actors: Ian McKellen, Barbara Jefford, Arthur Whybrow, Paula Tilbrook

Synopsis: Director Stephen Frears paints a bleak and cynical picture of the ordinary Brit's ability to relate to someone less fortunate in this hard-hitting look at the world of the mentally handicapped. Walter (Ian McKellen) is a kind-hearted man who is mentally challenged. Walter's parents are remote and Read More

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Actors: Jane Seymour, Anthony Andrews, Ian McKellen

Synopsis: Swordplay, secret messages, and the rustle of ballroom finery make this 1982 adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel a gala bash. Anthony Andrews heads the cast as English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney, a conceited but amusing fop in the drawing rooms of British high society. But beneath his veneer of Read More

Priest of Love

Actors: Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, Ava Gardner, Penelope Keith, Jorge Rivero

Synopsis: The later years of the life of author D.H. Lawrence are dramatized in this screen biography. Following the controversial reception of his novel The Rainbow, David Herbert Lawrence (Ian McKellen) and his wife Frieda (Janet Suzman) leave England for the U.S., where they hope that Lawrence's bold Read More

Macbeth

Actors: Ian McKellen, Judi Dench

Synopsis: This 1976 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth was originally broadcast on Thames Television in 1978. The company's artistic director Trevor Dunn directs the cast on a small bare stage with mostly black costumes and minimal props. After the witches (Susan Dury, Judith Harte, Marie Kean) Read More

Hamlet

Edward II

Actors: Ian McKellen, James Laurenson, Diane Fletcher, Paul Hardwick, Timothy West

Synopsis: Not to be confused with the 1992 Derek Jarman feature of the same title, this Edward II constitutes a celebrated 1969 stage adaptation of Sixteenth Century scribe Christopher Marlowe's seminal play. Mounted at the Edinburgh Festival, this particular production gained legendary status for Read More

Alfred the Great

Actors: David Hemmings, Michael York, Prunella Ransome, Colin Blakely, Julian Glover

Synopsis: While Olde England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the 9th century, Alfred (David Hemmings) is commencing to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his motherland, he puts aside his religious vows to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their Read More

The Promise

Synopsis: The Promise is a sentimental romantic triangle with a World War II. Russian soldiers John Castle and Ian McKellen fend off the Nazis during the siege of Leningrad. Somehow, they find time to give aid and shelter to homeless peasant Susan Macready. Loving both men equally, Macready must ultimately Read More

Thank You All Very Much

Actors: Sandy Dennis, Ian McKellen, Michael Coles, John Standing, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, Eleanor Bron

Synopsis: Also titled A Touch of Love, this British drama concerns a woman who decides to keep and raise a baby born out of wedlock. Sandy Dennis stars as Rosamund Stacey, a graduate student who has an affair with a television broadcaster, George (Ian McKellen). When she learns that she is pregnant, her Read More

Pavarotti: The Last Tenor

Synopsis: Acclaimed tenor Luciano Pavarotti prepares for retirement in this intimate BBC documentary narrated by Sir Ian McKellen. As his career draws to a close and he tours the world giving his final performances, the seventy-year-old Pavarotti reflects on his life and times and just what it means to be Read More