Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by... Read full bio →
Featured Characters
Roles you can spot in Whatthemovie snapshots
The Prisoner
2009
Avengers: Doomsday
Heroes from three different worlds must unite when they're thrust together to confront a catastrophic danger that could destroy everything they know.
The Critic
A powerful London theater critic becomes entangled in a web of deceit and murder.
The Good Liar
Career con man Roy sets his sights on his latest mark: recently widowed Betty, worth millions. And he means to take it all. But as the two draw closer, what should have been another simple swindle takes on the ultimate stakes.
Cats
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
McKellen: Playing the Part
Feature documentary on the life and work of Sir Ian McKellen.
All Is True
London, June 29th, 1613. The Globe Theater, ran by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, accidentally burns to ashes.
Beauty and the Beast
A live-action adaptation of Disney's version of the classic 'Beauty and the Beast' tale of a cursed prince and a beautiful young woman who helps him break the spell.
Mr. Holmes
In 1947, long-retired and near the end of his life, Sherlock Holmes grapples with an unreliable memory and must rely on his housekeeper's son as he revisits the still-unsolved case that led to his retirement.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from “X-Men: First Class,” in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Following Smaug's attack on Laketown, Bilbo and the dwarves try to defend Erebor's mountain of treasure from others who claim it: the men of the ruined Laketown and the elves of Mirkwood. Meanwhile an army of Orcs led by Azog the Defiler is marching on Erebor, fueled by the rise of the dark lord Sauron.
Vicious
Freddie Thornhill (Sir Ian McKellen) and Stuart Bixby (Sir Derek Jacobi) are an old gay couple who have been together for nearly fifty years. Their lives now revolve around entertaining their frequent guests and hurling insults at each other at every opportunity.
The Wolverine
Wolverine faces his ultimate nemesis - and tests of his physical, emotional, and mortal limits - in a life-changing voyage to modern-day Japan.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit enjoying his quiet life, is swept into an epic quest by Gandalf the Grey and thirteen dwarves who seek to reclaim their mountain home from Smaug, the dragon.
The Prisoner
The Prisoner is a 2009 television miniseries based on the 1960s TV series The Prisoner about a man who awakens in a mysterious, picturesque village from which there is no escape and wonders who made the village and why. It was co-produced by American cable network AMC with the British channel ITV.
The Golden Compass
In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.
Stardust
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
X-Men: The Last Stand
When pharmaceutical company Worthington Labs announces that it has developed an inoculation to permanently suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their powers, conflict between Professor Xavier's X-Men and Magneto's band of Acolytes is sure to follow.
The Da Vinci Code
A murder inside the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
Flushed Away
The story of an uptown rat that gets flushed down the toilet from his penthouse apartment, ending in the sewers of London, where he has to learn a whole new and different way of life.
Ringers: Lord of the Fans
'Ringers: Lord of the Fans' is a feature-length documentary that explores how "The Lord of the Rings" has influenced Western popular culture over the past 50 years.
Pollux - Le manège enchanté
A shaggy, candy-loving puppy named Dougal along with a group of friends embarks on a dangerous journey in an effort to imprison their oppressor -- the evil ice sorcerer ZeeBad (Zebedee's evil twin). As the world is placed in mortal danger Zeebad who wants to turn the world to ice.
Neverwas
Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist, who leaves a job at a prestigious university, to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, 'Millwood'. What he doesnt reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), spent many years of his life.
Asylum
A woman becomes very curious about one of her psychiatrist husband's inmates, a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife.
X2
Army General William Stryler creates a plan to kill all the mutants on the earth. Mutant Professor Xavier unwillingly agrees to help him. The X-Men going together in a mission to save their professor and all mutants. The second film from the X-men Trilogy from director Bryan Singer.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The former Fellowship of the Ring prepare for the final battle for Middle Earth, while Frodo & Sam approach Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring.
Emile
In a story weaving the past and present together, Emile seeks redemption from the family he abandoned.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Frodo and Sam continue on to Mordor in their mission to destroy the One Ring, whilst their former companions make new allies and launch an assault on Isengard.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
In a small village in the Shire a young Hobbit named Frodo has been entrusted with an ancient Ring. Now he must embark on an Epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it.
X-Men
Mutant are born across the world and Professor Xavier brings them together in a mutant school to teach them how to do good with their unusual powers. He calls them X-men. They eventually come into a battle of good vs. evil in this filmed version of the comic book by Bryan Singer.
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens' haunting semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph over incredible adversities.
Gods and Monsters
It's 1957, and James Whale's heyday as the director of "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man" is long behind him. Retired and a semi-recluse, he lives his days accompanied only by images from his past.
Apt Pupil
One day in 1984, Todd Bowden, a brilliant high school boy fascinated by the history of Nazism, stumbles across an old man whose appearance resembles that of Kurt Dussander, a wanted Nazi war criminal. A month later, Todd decides to knock on his door.
Swept from the Sea
The story of Russian emigrant Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of nineteenth century. When Yanko enters a farm, sick and hungry after a shipwreck, everyone is afraid of him, except for Amy.
Bent
Max is a handsome young man who, after a fateful tryst with a German soldier, is forced to run for his life. Eventually Max is placed in a concentration camp where he pretends to be Jewish because in the eyes of the Nazis, gays are the lowest form of human being.
Restoration
An aspiring young physician, Robert Merivel found himself in the service of King Charles II and saves the life of someone close to the King. Merivel joins the King's court and lives the high life provided to someone of his position. Merivel is ordered to marry his King's mistress in order to divert the queens suspicions.
Jack & Sarah
Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head.
Cold Comfort Farm
A recently orphaned young woman goes to live with eccentric relatives in Sussex, where she sets about improving their gloomy lives.
The Shadow
Based on the 1930's comic strip, puts the hero up against his arch enemy, Shiwan Khan, who plans to take over the world by holding a city to ransom using an atom bomb. Using his powers of invisibility and "The power to cloud men's minds", the Shadow comes blazing to the city's rescue with explosive results.
I'll Do Anything
Matt Hobbs is a talented but unsuccessful actor. When estranged (and strange) ex-wife Beth dumps their daughter Jeannie on Matt, father and daughter have a lot of adjusting to do.
The Ballad of Little Jo
After being thrown out of her home, a young woman decides to disguise herself as a man to survive the ruthless Wild West.
Six Degrees of Separation
The story of a young, gay black con artist who, posing as the son of Sidney Poitier, cunningly maneuvers his way into the lives of a white, upper-class New York family.
Last Action Hero
Danny (Austin O'Brien) is obsessed with a fictional movie character action hero Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger)... When a magical ticket transports him into Jack's latest adventure, Danny finds himself in a world where movie magic and reality collide. Now it's up to Danny to save the life of his hero and new friend.
Scandal
Based on the Profumo Scandal of 1963, an affair between an exotic dancer and the Minister of War shakes up the British government.
Plenty
David Hare's account of a one-time French freedom fighter who gradually realizes that her post-war life is not meeting her expectations.
The Keep
Nazis take over a ancient fortress that contains a mysterious entity that wreaks havoc and death upon them.
Alfred the Great
In 9th century England, Alfred abandons his path to priesthood to fight Danish invaders, leading English Christians to victory. Though successful, he struggles between religious devotion and warrior bloodlust.