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CONTENDERS<br />
VARIETY.COM/CONTENDERS<br />
ACTOR / Q&A<br />
Ian McKellen<br />
on Playing Old<br />
for Holmes<br />
TIM GRAY<br />
@timgray_variety<br />
IAN MCKELLEN STARS in “Mr. Holmes,”<br />
the Bill Condon-directed film that<br />
bows on DVD and Blu-ray Nov. 10.<br />
The actor worked with writer-director<br />
Condon on 1998’s “Gods and Monsters,”<br />
the first of McKellen’s two Oscar<br />
nominations (so far).<br />
What drew you to “Mr. Holmes” ?<br />
After “Gods & Monsters,” Bill and I always<br />
agreed, “Before we die, we’ve got to do<br />
another film together.” Finally, he called<br />
and said, “I think I’ve found the film.”<br />
Then when he said, “It’s about Sherlock<br />
Holmes,” it just kept getting better<br />
and better! It’s a mixture of the familiar,<br />
with Sherlock, and what’s going to happen<br />
next, but it also delves into the man’s<br />
insides. It’s about widowhood, loneliness,<br />
about the possibility of redemption —<br />
that it’s never too late to find yourself.<br />
Was it challenging to play the character<br />
from ages 60 to 93?<br />
I’m at an age when I could imagine being<br />
93. It wasn’t foreign. And I had a stepmother<br />
who lived to be 100, with a bit of<br />
dementia. We’ve all been young and had<br />
aged parents.<br />
Do you ever get tired of acting?<br />
Anything I’ve learned about life, I<br />
learned by acting out someone else’s<br />
story. When you play Macbeth or Richard<br />
III, you have to face the possibility that<br />
someday you may be so angry or so ambitious<br />
that you could kill someone. And<br />
if you can’t imagine what that’s like, you<br />
can’t play Macbeth.<br />
Prized Career<br />
Honors and awards<br />
for the veteran thesp<br />
› The Lord of<br />
the Rings:<br />
The Fellowship<br />
of the Ring<br />
(Oscar supporting<br />
actor nom;<br />
SAG supporting<br />
actor winner)<br />
2002<br />
› Gods and<br />
Monsters<br />
(Oscar actor nom;<br />
Golden Globe actor<br />
nom; SAG nom)<br />
1999<br />
› Rasputin<br />
(Golden Globe<br />
winner, supporting<br />
actor, TV movie)<br />
1997<br />
› Richard III<br />
(Golden Globe<br />
actor nom )<br />
1996<br />
You do a lot of scenes in “Mr. Holmes”<br />
with Milo Parker. Is working with<br />
child actors different?<br />
A child actor is not a fully fledged<br />
professional with the cunning of experience<br />
behind him. But what you’re<br />
getting, if you’re lucky, is something genuine.<br />
And that’s very precious. If they’re<br />
in touch with it, they don’t have to work<br />
at it. And Milo had no apprehension .<br />
It was his first film, and he was very<br />
comfortable.<br />
Had you worked with children before?<br />
I have the distinction of not giving Eddie<br />
Redmayne his first film role. He auditioned<br />
for one of the boys in “Richard III”<br />
(1996), and he didn’t get the part. Every<br />
time I see him, he teases, “You’re the guy<br />
who didn’t give me my first job!”<br />
What’s your biggest surprise<br />
about “Mr. Holmes”?<br />
It’s not just older people who like it;<br />
kids like it too. That’s gratifying .<br />
OSCAR ODDS<br />
SUPPORTING ACTOR RACE: GOING FOR THE GOLD<br />
Awards experts provide analysis for more categories on GoldDerby.com<br />
20%<br />
4:1<br />
Idris Elba<br />
“Beasts of No Nation”<br />
18%<br />
9:2<br />
Michael Keaton<br />
“Spotlight”<br />
13%<br />
13:2<br />
Mark Rylance<br />
“Bridge of Spies”<br />
12%<br />
15:2<br />
Mark Ruffalo<br />
“Spotlight”<br />
9%<br />
10:1<br />
Tom Hardy<br />
“The Revenant”<br />
7%<br />
12:1<br />
Paul Dano<br />
“Love & Mercy”<br />
5%<br />
20:1<br />
Joel Edgerton<br />
“Black Mass”<br />
MCKELLEN: DAVID VINTINER<br />
18 Top Billing
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