The role Ian McKellen only took for the paycheque: “Oh, there’s that lovely money”

Posted On November 17, 2024November 17, 2024

Throughout his illustrious career, Sir Ian McKellen has lent his talents to everything from Shakespeare to comic book blockbusters and from fantasy epics to British soaps. Despite working steadily from the late 1960s, he undoubtedly became best known in the early 2000s for the double whammy of Magneto in the X-Men franchise and Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. Those two characters gave him a level of fame and status in Hollywood that many assumed would mean he’d never again have to work strictly for the money. However, that wasn’t entirely the case, as McKellen admitted he played a part in that period that was entirely motivated by money.

Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was a special project for everyone involved, and McKellen was just as fond of the experience as every other cast member. The three films were shot back to back in Jackson’s native New Zealand for over a year, with the cast and crew returning between 2001 and 2003 to shoot extra material. Being in a foreign country for such a long period encouraged the cast to bond and when the shoot finished, every member of the “Fellowship of the Ring” was inked with a matching tattoo to commemorate their life-changing experience.

In 2015, the effortlessly witty McKellen told NPR, “It’s on my upper arm, my tattoo, and it says nine in Elvish – nine members of the Fellowship, of course.” Amusingly, McKellen admitted that the tattoo is actually upside down from his vantage point, so when he looks at it, “It seems to spell Gucci.” All joking aside, though, he confirmed the tattoo means a lot to him, as it serves as a link “to dear people who I don’t see enough of.”

Fascinatingly, McKellen loved playing Gandalf in the trilogy so much that he agreed to do something he’d never attempted in his career. When he was approached to lend his distinctive voice to the character in a spin-off video game for The Two Towers, he was initially hesitant. After all, he knew very little about the world of gaming. Thankfully, the game developers offered something which made the project seem worthwhile to McKellen: cold, hard cash.

The loquacious McKellen revealed, “You do it, frankly, for money. I was paid, I think, more for doing that than for the film.” That’s right, the role McKellen took purely for the paycheque was Gandalf – just in a different medium.

As hard as it may be to believe, the iconic thespian really must have been paid more for stepping into a recording studio as Gandalf than actually getting into costume for the films. You see, the esteemed former Royal Shakespeare Company actor returned for three more games in 2003 and ’04: The Return of the King, The Third Age, and The Battle for Middle-earth.

When NPR asked whether he wondered if “this is what I’ve come to” when he found himself wearing headphones in a recording booth, McKellen chuckled, “You’re absolutely right.” He then lightly complained about recording the same lines of dialogue repeatedly, with only minor alterations, such as adding a different character name at the end.

However, it can’t have been too much of a strain for McKellen because when he returned to play Gandalf in The Hobbit trilogy, he was also given the option of returning for more video games. His first thought was, “Oh, there’s that lovely money coming from the games that people play”, but then he found out it was too good to be true this time.

The film producers had actually bought the game company before embarking on production of The Hobbit, which meant voicing your character was written into every actor’s contract. McKellen was decidedly unamused when he found out the fee he would be paid, as per this new contract, if he agreed to voice Gandalf again.

Ultimately, McKellen chose to turn down the “paltry sum” offered and was forced to watch on as another actor imitated his Gandalf performance for the game.

“So, that’s what it’s come down to,” McKellen grimaced. “That you don’t pay actors for doing their work.”

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