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Ian McKellen
8 October 2002
| I arrived in Vancouver 14 weeks
ago — only my second visit to British Columbia. The first was for an
AIDS fund-raiser last century when I had a couple of days looking
round. Odd how little I remembered accurately, except the water
surrounding the city and the gentleness of the people who live here.
Many of them are immigrants from the east coast of Canada which they
disparage in the way Los Angelenos are rude about New York. Which
needn't concern Brits who are as welcome here as we are in Toronto,
although I don't know about Montreal and Quebec. |
Prisoner #0001 |
|
Ian McKellen/Daniel Harris
Los Angeles, February 2002
Ian McKellen/Michael Dougherty
Los Angeles, February 2002 |
The last time I was in Canada was to shoot X-Men in and around
Toronto, in 1999 immediately before my year's service with Peter
Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien. Now I'm back with Bryan Singer and his
writer David Hayter who ended up with the screen credit for having
written the first movie but who has been nowhere to be seen since we
started filming X-Men2. Instead every day diligently attentive
on set, we have the writers Michael Dougherty (25) and Daniel Harris
(22) — and very nice too. Very friendly to the old boys like Patrick
Stewart and me. This is their first big writing assignment and once
more Singer is encouraging new talent as he has done on all his
movies. It must be pretty overwhelming to them so I don't add to their
worries by giving advice, except about their posture, which makes them
look as if they are having a dreadful time, cowed and out of
alignment. "Stand up straight boys!" is my cry. "Enjoy yourselves
while it lasts!" |
| That's my own attitude to
working in the movies, never to take it for granted. I think all the
neurosis in Hollywood feeds off an insecurity about job prospects. To
feel safe, everyone looks for approval, for status, for wealth but
very few can have these desirables consistently throughout a career. A
better way for me is just to enjoy it and keep roots in other places
that I hope will always be there to work in. When this job is over in
November, I am planning something for the theatre and so
X-Men2 is my goodbye to the movies for a spell.
|
I love the jokes on set. — Ian McKellen, October 2002 |
DVD Release date 25 November 2003
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