Ian McKellen Reveals Alec Guinness Discouraged His Gay Rights Activism

Ian McKellen has publicly identified the actor who counseled him against pursuing gay rights advocacy. Speaking with The Guardian, the 86-year-old Lord of the Rings star—who came out publicly in 1988—revealed that Alec Guinness, the original Obi-Wan Kenobi from the early Star Wars films, pressured him to distance himself from activism.

Guinness, who passed away in 2000, reportedly encouraged McKellen to abandon his involvement with Stonewall, the UK-based gay rights organization dedicated to securing equal legal protections for lesbian and gay citizens.

McKellen recounted the encounter in detail. "He 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," the X-Men actor explained. "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 U.K. lesbians and gays equally under the law."

"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."

The conversation resurfaced recently after McKellen attended "Two Halves of Guinness," a one-man show featuring actor Zeb Soanes portraying Guinness. According to McKellen, the production "hints at Sir Alec's latent bisexuality in a way that would have upset him, I suppose."