Ian McKellen’s Tribute to Patrick Stewart Shows the Friendship Behind ‘X-Men’

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart spent decades as one of the entertainment world’s most beloved double acts, on screen and off. Red-carpet kisses, matching bowler hats and a famously affectionate bond made them a fixture of pop culture. Now McKellen has written an emotional tribute to Stewart after his death.

Stewart died on October 28 at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 86, with his wife, Sunny Ozell, at his side. His family said he had been through a brief and deeply moving illness with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. The news was announced the following day, and tributes followed quickly.

McKellen’s words stood out for how personal they were. In a lengthy statement shared on social media, he remembered Stewart as a man who wore his heart on his sleeve, someone to rely on, admire and, in McKellen’s own case, love.

McKellen began with where Stewart came from. Before everything else, he wrote, Stewart was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, a county he loved until the end. He said you could hear it in Stewart’s accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he said what he thought and felt.

He added that Yorkshiremen have no time for half-truths or for avoiding big issues. It is a fond portrait of a man who said what he meant, and it explains why McKellen found him so trustworthy. Stewart was born in Mirfield, and he remained proud of his roots throughout his career.

SIR PATRICK STEWART (1940-2026) Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love. We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions. My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”. Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway. America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire. His farewell performance in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is yet to be seen. Ian McKellen 29 October 2026 Photo: University of Huddersfield

— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) October 30, 2026

McKellen recalled that the two first met half a century ago as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company, though they were never in the same productions. His first strong memory of Stewart came a few years later, when they met in the street in central London. Stewart told him about an offer to take a leading part in ‘Star Trek.’

McKellen said he asked Stewart to think of his stage career in the UK and whether he really wanted to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years. In the end, he wrote, Stewart took the risk, and everyone is better off for it. He thanked Stewart for what he gave not only to his devoted Trekkies, but also to film and theatre audiences.

The tribute also celebrated Stewart’s range. McKellen noted that he used his international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes, ‘X-Men’ of course among them. He also pointed to great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett, performed at Stratford-upon-Avon, in the West End and on Broadway.

The pair shared that stage work too. They appeared together on Broadway in ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘No Man’s Land,’ and McKellen has said before that he wept when the run of ‘Godot’ ended. Their friendship began in earnest on the set of the first ‘X-Men’ film in 2000, where they played Professor X and Magneto.

McKellen described America as Stewart’s adopted home, where he met his beloved Sunny. She cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin, he wrote. McKellen has a personal connection to that marriage, having officiated at the couple’s wedding in 2013.

But Stewart never forsook his origins, McKellen added. In his view, the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic was his appointment as Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield in Yorkshire. Stewart held the role from 2004 until 2015.

McKellen ended on a forward-looking note. Stewart’s farewell performance in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ he said, is yet to be seen. The film, in which Stewart is set to appear posthumously as Professor Charles Xavier, premieres in December.

It is a fitting detail for a tribute that is as much about continuity as loss. Fans will get one more chance to watch Stewart, and McKellen’s closing line nudges them to look forward to it. The two actors have said they never expected to be so close, and the statement shows how deeply that bond ran.

The reaction online has been enormous, with fans across social media sharing the statement alongside photos of the two friends in their bowler hats. Many said it captured Stewart’s character better than any career retrospective could. For a pair who spent years trading affectionate banter in public, the sincerity of the farewell has hit hard.

It is also a reminder of how much of Stewart’s legacy lives in the people he worked with. Hugh Jackman, Marvel Studios and the ‘Star Trek’ community have all paid tribute, but McKellen’s words come from someone who knew him longer than almost anyone.

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