McKellen: Playing the Part

"From the start, the subject of Joe Stephenson's documentary lays his cards on the table: “It’s very difficult just to be yourself. So I treat it as a piece of acting. Here he comes… What side of Ian McKellen am I going to present?”"

"A boy who really loved his Mum, Alexander McQueen the progressively fractious designer, and subject of this doco was also a fierce talent with equal tendencies for fun and cruelty. Using recovered archival footage, photos and intensely personal interviews with some of his closest friends and family, director Ian Bonhôte and co-director/writer Peter Ettedgui, eloquently tease out the rocky journey of the school dropout who doodled dresses on his school books, the prophetic early cutting and tailoring apprenticeship at a Savile Row tailor, to the final harrowing chapters of his life."

"Director Joe Stephenson paints a beautiful portrait, but the actor’s sensitivity, storytelling and strength of character are captivating enough."

"Yet even - perhaps especially - in morbid mood, [Ian McKellen] is never less than beguiling."

"McKellen occasionally slips into the part of twinkly super-cool gay uncle that he tends to play in interviews these days. But mostly he’s thoughtful and self-reflective."

"Essentially based around a single interview, Playing the Part allows McKellen's avuncular personality, warmth and wicked humour to shine."

"McKellen: Playing the Part is a celebration of a life particularly well-lived. McKellen emerges as a clear-eyed, impish, utterly professional and pragmatic optimist."

"As the documentary ends with him discussing his funeral plans you appreciate what a treat it is to have the Oscar-award winner telling his own story in his own words."

"Structured very simply as an on-camera interview while McKellen reminisces about his life from the comfort of a red library chair, the film exudes a personal warmth springing from the fact that most of it is told in Sir Ian’s own words."

"An absolute treat of an interview with a man who has told other people’s stories wonderfully for decades and tells his own just as well."