Ian McKellen Reveals ‘Star Wars’ Star Alec Guinness Once Warned Him to Stay Silent About Gay Rights

Ian McKellen has opened up about a private conversation he once had with legendary actor Alec Guinness, revealing that the “Star Wars” icon advised him to stay away from gay rights activism early in his career.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, McKellen shared that Guinness invited him to lunch in Pimlico years ago, shortly after learning about McKellen’s involvement with Stonewall, the U.K. organization that fought for equal rights and legal protections for gay people.

“He took me for an Italian lunch in Pimlico, where we chatted about this and that until he brought up the real reason for his invitation,” McKellen said. “He had heard about my work to establish Stonewall – a lobby group to present to the government and the world at large the case for treating U.K. lesbians and gays equally under the law with the rest of the population.”

According to McKellen, Guinness felt that actors should avoid political or public activism. “He thought it somewhat unseemly for an actor to dabble in public or political affairs and advised me, sort of pleaded with me, to withdraw,” McKellen explained. “Advice from an older generation, which I didn’t follow.”

The actor said the memory recently came back to him after seeing the touring stage production Two Halves of Guinness. The play stars Zeb Soanes as Alec Guinness and explores parts of the late actor’s personal life. McKellen noted that the production hints at what he described as Guinness’ “latent bisexuality.”

McKellen publicly came out as gay in 1988 during a BBC radio interview when he was 48 years old. Since then, he has become one of the most outspoken LGBTQ+ advocates in the entertainment industry.

Speaking to The Times of London last year, McKellen encouraged actors and public figures who are still closeted to live openly. “I have never met anybody who came out who regretted it,” he said. “I feel sorry for any famous person who feels they can’t come out. Being in the closet is silly — there’s no need for it.”

He also urged people not to let fear or industry pressure stop them. “Don’t listen to your advisers, listen to your heart. Listen to your gay friends who know better. Come out. Get into the sunshine.”

McKellen also pointed out how rare openly gay representation still is at the highest levels of entertainment and sports. He noted that there has never been an openly gay winner of the Best Actor Oscar, and no openly gay Premier League football player.

“The first Premier League footballer to come out will become the most famous footballer in the world,” McKellen said, arguing that public support would likely outweigh the fears many athletes are given by agents and advisers.

The comments, first reported by The Guardian, have sparked conversation online about how attitudes toward LGBTQ+ visibility in Hollywood have changed over the decades, especially between older generations of actors and today’s stars.

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