Ian McKellen Explains The Difference Between Acting on Stage and In Movies | The Dick Cavett Show 

Unforgettable: "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy (2001, 2002, and 2003) Award-winning: "Gods and Monsters" (1998) Unseen (relatively): "Rasputin" (1996) Popular" "X-Men" (2000) Unheard (relatively): "Jack and Sarah" (1995)

Unbelievable: "Sharknado" (2021)

I wish I could have seen him in the play The Three Arrows.

Richard III (1995) is my favorite role of Ian McKellen's. He really sells the Duke of Gloucester's vile nature yet evokes legit chuckles throughout the runtime of the film. The film takes liberty with Shakespeare's play but is quite entertaining.

"Acting Shakespeare" PBS....the best performance by McKellen on DVD....

And eventually turned into Sir Ian McKellen the White.

@Christian Astor Because of homosex?

🤔

@@therespectedlex9794... no.

@@davincent98 Was I talking to you?

yeah, what's up with his long white beard?

Phuu

He is so old now that he was still old here. He isn't young here. Just youngER.

We're being constantly deepfaked

YES EXACTLY

Beautifully put, sir!

A wizard's body is never old, his body aged precisely when he means it!

Acting is telling a story. Actions can help fill in the details of the story that cant be vocalised.

Seriously though, his voice and manner of speaking make him sound much older than he is. I think he grew into his voice.

"AMEN"

damn that's crazy, what a long and well accomplished life

defuq?!?! --- I'm 46 and I would have thought him to be older that I ... even in this video.

I think he looks a lot younger than his true age here.

Thanks I was just working that out, good to see it stated

They should probably stop hiring former comedians for hosts then

In order to do intellectual questions, you should have intellectual guests in the first place.

Just proves what Ian said in the interview :D About how the perception of reality changes with time

Actually these type of talk shows do exist. Only problem is they get no views or attention cause they can be quite boring.

Wainscoting imagine if even our politicians were interviewed like this also...

Caleb Hellegers I’m really happy these videos are being shared. The Dick Cavett Show is delightful and thoroughly engaging

thanks for letting us know! many in the comment section seem to generalize.

Thank you for pointing this out. These type of videos are always inundated with comments talking about how it was so much better in the old days. And most of those comments are just trolls trying to get copycat likes.

@Tom Smith Of course they are, things change over time. Media companies are businesses too - so every year they research and try to do better (ie make more money). As consumers change, products must change, too.

@Tom Smith kinda what ian McK was talking about, diff societal norms in diff time periods.

There was a time when TV producers believed that "normal people having a normal conversation" was a profitable form of entertainment. Then Rupert Murdoch came along and introduced the world to dumpster-fire TV.

Cavett let 'em talk. Check out his interviews with Burton, Hopkins, Welles, Bette Davis etc etc etc.

... and they're not trying to squeeze in a punchline for every single statement they make.... ... and the audience are respectfully listening, rather than WAITING ON EDGE to laugh at some forced punchline...

And an intelligent host

“That’s great Ian, but can you do Chewbacca?”

& greatest

Was thinking the same thing. Would love just listening to him analyze his various acting techniques and psychology of acting.

@@MrSF247 his comment about the shifting nature of reality was very insightful

It is indeed, and an amazing one, but nowadays everyone wants to sell you everything.

That's because he's not trying to rob you; he's trying to help you.

@@youngyoungmcgurn5088 ​Google global truth project and read "the Present" to see the truth about life/death. It can change the world, especially pgs 1-4

Well put.

And actors should keep their mouths shut about politics.

@@dewfall56 should you?

@@dewfall56 An actor is as much a citizen of the nation or the world as much as you or anyone else... They have the right to express their opinions, as much as you or anyone else... You can dispute their opinion, but you can't tell them to keep their mouths shut and not express their opinions...

This is the kinda interview u fall asleep

Thats why podcasts are more popular today and talk shows are dead

Yandalf the Brown

Usurped from Saruman.

Today's studio audiences are prepped before the show to be rowdy. Audiences on television shows are like trained seals who perform for the cameras with exaggerated behavior. For the most part they are medium to low intelligence, judging from how they behave.

IT IS CALLED CHICKLET

@@rr7fireflythem being coached to be loud and rowdy has absolutely zero to do with their inherent intelligence. They’re literally just doing what they’re told.

​@@calisongbirdintelligent people would choose not to be herded like sheep.

@@calisongbird you know what else goes where they're told ?, sheep

I agree.... I doubt that so much screen time would be devoted to one person's comments these days.

​@@renzo6490 The Dick Cavett show had a 90 minute running time and one 90 second commercial break every 10 minutes. They had the time. 70s TV would seem unbelievably slow paced to a modern viewer.

I think Dick said, "Yeah, take a chance".

he said Take a chance!!!

He said the much more inviting "take a chance"! :)

Also Fallon: * Doesn't get it * ... Therefore Fallon: "hAHahahHAhahHAhAHhahaHAHahhHAhHAHaHaHhahHa"

@@reactions5783 you forgot add in the context hahhahhaHahHahahahahahaHhaha (table smack table smack ) hahahaahahaha hahaha hah (table smack table smack )

*"band" plays awful music for 5 seconds*

That is powerful irony

Jimmy Fallon is a Muppet. He's not real

I always ask people what they mean if I don't understand fully (their way of saying what they've said)

If anything, it does show higher intelligence when he asks what the interviewer means because it shows emphasis on the clarity and precision of the issue at hand. A lot of people I've met who are masters of their craft seem to display this habit of always clarifying intended meanings when confronted with a question so that there can be no misunderstanding.

“Does that sounds credible what I just said” such a gentleman 😭

PACING

@@ElvarMasson That may be so, but you're not being asked on national television in front of millions of people. There's (relatively) little to lose in a 1:1 conversation compared to a public misstep...

Hah. Could you imagine the disruption that a stage band from nowadays would cause in a thoughtful discussion like this? They'd just about jump out of their skin...

Ahahaahah I thought the same thing. "Oh, man, you just wait a couple of decades..."

His Golden Age is really his golden age

@Parental Guardian Don't get me started :)

@@nailmontana1993 I'm afraid that, much like graphite, reality won't change because you _hope_ for it.

Comrade Dyatlov calm down darling. It’s not a big deal.

@@SpaceGandalf342 How did you manage to get *further* from the source you were replying to?!

Excellent...I enjoyed that

*frodo laughs*

Oh, Dear Boy!

That's because the networks are always trying to sell you something, whether it's the products in their adverts, the project the guest is starring in, the next episode of whatever you're watching, and the crap they call the news. Cavett refined his technique on PBS, no selling anything there, apart from top notch interviews of course.

Because this gets boring

@@devonbacha4037 the attention deficit generation

@@funoff3207 okay

Well they had no competition. Today they compete against RU-vid, Netflix and Pornhub.

Lmao this needs more likes

Hahah! Good one man. What a great line

A brillient Gandalf reference.

Scrolled down too far to find something like this...

Amazing how similar the two actors seem.

A sense of decorum. Respect for (the purpose of) the event & for others (community needs/wants over individual needs/wants) :)

Things like this are evidence standards once existed and society wasn’t a total shitshow. Go look at old film reels, a lot of effort is expounded brainwashing people to believe the current age is “the best time ever in human history”.

It’s because they aren’t spamming edits and lights to keep adhd children from clicking away.

... because he's not a real wizard.

WIZARD YOU SHALL NOT PASS

Relaxing, but it commands attention.

What the f is a lexicon

Which one?

Your a beautiful person...

Big Boy guess that word isn’t in your lexicon. ( I’m trying to give you context clues to discern what it means)

Cough ( Jimmy Fallon ) cough ...

Way too deep for most people today even though it's just a regular talk about an interesting topic. People want and need dumb and quick stuff today. I wonder if it will ever change back/adjust or keep going in this direction. At least we have youtube today so a bit more "demanding" people can search and find what they want

@@hazardeur I rather think the.media has dumbed it all down to appeal to the common denominator. Tv and film used to set the bar higher. Now it's the opposite.

Fake(Fallon)laughs;)

@@spaceplateau You know when British schools want to replace music history like Mozart with Gangsta rap, that's the things he is referring too, and yes that's a real thing look it up.

"You're confused."

@@nathaniel201 there will be no script on the night!

Sir Ian Sir Ian Sir Ian ACTION! You shall not pass! CUT! Sir Ian Sir Ian Sir Ian

Suppose you were to plot a graph of my performance against time

Looked through the comments just for this!

Underrated comment 😂

this boutta blow up

waiting for it......

rogaine does wonders

@J B It looks like you missed the joke so I'll explain it to you. Okay so the thing is that Ian McKellen seems like he always looked as old as he did so when we finally see him when he was younger it almost looks fake, hence "de-aging"

I bet he sounded like Gandalf even when he was 6. "You shall not pass!!... mum".

James Dunn There is a video of Macbeth available, starring McKellen and Judi Dench, that was filmed about five years prior to this. In it, McKellen looks like the deepest-voiced sixteen-year old boy you've ever seen. Eerie.

And a total BABE

He was quite handsome. And that dark hair was so different from how I remember him in his more recent film work.

He was 42 here!

By shouting: You shall not pass!

More like 50 feet

Or Richard the III in a 1930s fascist dictatorship.

By swinging his staff and yelling: you shall not pass!

Would you like to play a mutant which controls the metal around him through his mind ?

Sad but true!

Can you imagine if this came out today? We would've lost this to Carpool Karaoke.

Stop watching cable and start watching Joe Rogan. He has all kinds of people on (including actors) and goes quite deep into several subjects with them...

I know this may seem like an odd recommendation but I advise checking out a show on RU-vid called "Between the Sheets". It may seem a strange place to look for a great talk-show because it originates from a weekly online Dungeons and Dragons live stream called Critical Role. It started as interviews of the cast (who are all pretty successful voice actors) but has branched off to include other people in the acting industry and beyond who are friends of the cast and the niche nature of the shows origins means that the interviewees are interesting personalities whom you may be unlikely to hear from in mainstream talkshows. The host (Brian W. Foster) does a brilliant job of creating intelligent, insightful conversation on a variety of topics which can in turns be funny, thought provoking, and emotional. I genuinely hope that the show and it's great host continue to grow their success and renown.

I miss Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show, because he would often have long discussions with his guests that just got into philosophy and brain-picking. Sometimes he would do long monologues where he told life stories or postulated about things. And he would manage to be naturally witty along the way. He was so underrated as a late night host.

@@AWSVids hear hear! i like Craig because he talks about the stuff that he's interested in, that he genuinely wants to know about the person he's talking to. and by going off script, i think this by proxy makes the interviewee seem like a more interesting, engaging person, with real stories to tell.

Back then talk shows were not just glorified advertising. Nowadays, cynical sales manipulation has taken over from actual content with these 'talk shows' (adverts)

acchaladka agreed

What he does is, he imagines he is the character, and then he tries to do what he thinks that character would do.

@Power 2 Weight /woosh

Add Walter Matthau to that. Even when he was young he was old like Andy Griffith

cause they were old in their most famous films and both of them has a unique voice. it feels like hasn't aged a day

walter matthau was a stallion once. definitely appeared young when he was young. morgan freeman was already grey haired in his first film, he was always old as far as we're concerned

Maggie Smith too

Gandalf was always old, from the day he stepped on Middle Earth. Of course he was never young.

It seems like he's always been Gandalf!

Exactly 😆

...and how old is he there...50?

His face never changed. Really.

that, is not young. He's at least 40 here

It's a trap!

What he mentions in the same breath (namely that the acting of an age reflects the thought/image of reality in that age) is something that is fleshed out beautifully (although in a different subject matter) in this phenomenal series 'Civilization' by Kenneth Clark: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xxRGQzUOyhk.html (this is my fav episode, but they are all amazing!) A tour around the rise and fall of different intellectual power-houses throughout the ages and how the art, architecture and philosophy of these times were reflected in each other. Enjoy!

The medium is the message.

yea my mind did like a double take

Back then TV still had some intellectual content. It was not the total idiot box it is now with ever channel driven by advertising revenue rather than content.

Check out Norm MacDonalds talkshow on netflix

problem is you dont really get a steady stream of good interviewees so its hard to remember to shut up for them sometimes.

Dick Cavett always seemed quite intelligent and he was always able to be in the same flow as the interviewee. Not hijacking the conversation or trying too hard to make their own version of what was just said; but enriching it in an agreeable way, without any degradation of quality whatsoever!

Toady, these shows are just advertising and paid promotion for idiots.

Leave it to Rici to knee-cap the conversation ...LOL

Oh no lol

Money's money.

@@ZiddersRooFurry Absolutely. Micheal Caine: "Somebody said, 'Have you ever seen Jaws 4?' I said, 'No. But I've seen the house it bought for my mum. It's fantastic!'"

It's hard for an actor to know what the final production will look like, and nobody sets foot onto the set before contracts are already signed. Their job is to inhabit the role they are given, via script and direction. Nothing more.

Although the demand for more thorough conversation as opposed to popular superficial TV interviews can be observed in the surge in popularity in lengthy podcasts like Joe Rogan's, which I think may eventually kill network television.

This 7:37 clip is longer than most talk show segments today. Most talk shows are also variety shows, some are game shows, and almost without exception, interviews are promotions for a movie, a television show or a celebrity/politician's book with a few silly personal questions thrown in, which in most cases obviously were coordinated beforehand with publicists or managers. What irks me most is that actors generally are interviewed, but most musical artists who write interesting music and potentially could share a lot of interesting thoughts are limited to one abridged performance and maybe a one-minute exchange with the show host before the end credits roll. I don't understand the entertainment value of this model, but I do understand that as with most things, it is designed to sell products--television, movies, books, music or in a few cases charitable causes that pay for "issue placement" via celebrity spokespeople.

@@DavidMichaelCommer In the context of actors talking about their work, I was always impressed with 'Inside the Actors Studio' (find on youTube) where well-known actors were interviewed and explain what they do in front of drama college students. Much of it very intelligent and thoughtful; some of it even profound. Some bits quite witty. Yet this was not really primarily designed for mass audience consumption. Seems so many modern tv interviews and discussions are designed to dumb stuff down or rely on vacuous fawning of 'celebrity', rather than stretching and inspiring viewers.

@@frglee I agree about Inside the Actors' Studio having been interesting. As you wrote, though, the television show was designed as conversations for the benefit of acting students and it wasn't exactly made for a lay audience. That was its real appeal and also at times a little bit alienating, as when they'd discuss techniques that are of interest to actors but not necessarily to everyone. I went to graduate school for creative writing and some of the program was designed a lot like this, with readings followed by discussions about techniques. I think the format could be interesting for every form of art and creative expression. I still do prefer the Dick Cavett show format to Inside the Actors' Studio, though, because it was an in-depth conversation without any obvious TV gimmicks, whereas James Lipton did have some established 'game show' aspects such as always asking guests what their favorite curse words are, etc., made for entertainment rather than using the time to really engage in thoughtful discussion. Someone here mentioned that podcasts have come to fill the role of in-depth talk show discussions, and I think that person is totally correct. I lost all interest in talk shows, both daytime and late night, a long time ago because they are so mindless and guests are only there to sell, sell, sell. It seems as if a lot of people love serialized 'true crime' podcasts and things of that sort, but I have come to love ones like RuPaul's, which was a real surprise. He engages guests in discussions similar to Cavett's and he has a deep knowledge of botht the film and music industry's behind-the-scenes history, and so many of his interviews have been surprisingly fascinating. At the same time, the format lends itself to total self-indulgence, unlike a television show with a limited air time, and so weaknesses emerge. On RuPaul's podcasts, for example, he often spends 10 minutes or more asking people about how they navigate around cities, which I find maddening and frankly inexplicable, and which would never occur on a professionally produced television show--so ultimately, there's probably no perfect format and host. Dick Cavett's show, based on what I have seen on RU-vid comes the closest. That said, there's also an account on RU-vid called EMMY TV LEGENDS that has archival interview clips with so many television stars from the Golden Girls actors to Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden and so many more, and I've really enjoyed a lot of their interviews, although they are produced more like reality TV testimonials, with the actors speaking to an unseen and unheard interviewer, and so it's more of a talk-to-the-camera format than a conversation, which for me is less engaging and far less organic.

Sir Lawrence Olivier was exactly the same in interviews, and also said the same about the camera being a person in the room. Both brilliant men, unlike most actors today, except maybe Daniel Day Lewis.

@@scottinbristol Sir Ian discusses "Larrie" aka Olivier in another part of the interview 1:45 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-peISp-hDkME.html

MilesBellas the results of a thespian

And also.....magneto

What's a magneto?

@Bugsy Segal I'm a man and I find his voice soothing. Maybe you're a woman for finding his voice annoying.

You are aware that he is gay?

@@zhyrikan1449 What about it?

@Bugsy Segal your mom is barely a woman yet is still annoying af

which one?

....take a chance

Now it's like..oh we're out of time lol

Oh no ! Anyway...

Bullshit. They probably said the SAME THING about TV and how it was so much better in the past when this interview was being done.

It would never happen back then either. This show was very different

Based off what others have indicated here, this show was the exception at the time, not the rule.

Gorzagh Not really. Or not completely. There were David Frost & other intellectual shows at the same time.

The shows' ratings are a reflection of the American audience generally. Today's American audience generally suffers from attention deficit disorder.

@@chrispettus2532 when we are easily, constantly distracted we can’t focus on revolution

in terms of depth, Cavett outshines his near contemporary : Michael Parkinson. I suspect this show was always regarded as rather unique.

"Fashion of reality" = Zeitgeist?

That line leaped out at me too

So true, stuff that we found great even ten years ago can already been seen today as cheesy, cringey or somehow untrue to our view of reality.

BauAuslese A true omen. Look at, don’t listen to, talk shows today.

Brill.

Your right, it starts at the 5:09 timestamp

It’s all about comedy these days. Even advertisers have realized this and now weave humor into practically every television/RU-vid commercial they make.

Look for podcasts

Attention spans are much shorter now.

There are chat shows like this. Check out the Off Camera Show.

You may want to look to other countries interviews.

Haha genius

shows in 2020: Trump bad man. (Cue vacuous laughter)

lmao

and slapping the desk

Dick Cavett was very different from other talk shows of his time. He changed networks several times because ratings were low. People are people and the past wasn't some magical place where people were more intellectual.

@@nerychristian It doesn't matter who the selected candidate is, the point is they are selected. In my opinion, both wings of the political machinery, democrats and republicans are wings connected to the same compromised bird. The fans on both sides are so fervent to even see when it comes to politics, just like sports team, they trash the team they don't root for. Behind closed doors these politicians are very much friends laughing at all of us.

Pretzel Boy.

And Gandalf.

Watch some podcasts

I caught that, too LOL

XD

"I try to tie my hands to my thoughts" *Ian's brain:* fuk u

Budgie Cat I ask myself if THAT is what he meant. There WAS a time you could use all your fingers to express yourself openly, honestly. But he does mention giving a sign to the audience. .so, you may be right, after all. Dunno.

RandoNoLogic Not 100% convinced of this. Maybe.

"Amen Brother... Amen"

Lol it's THE SAME VOICE.

Im pretty sure it was cover to tuck a wedgie in more. that's how he rolls.

I think it was his way of flirting with the host.

Lol all three of these comments are pure gold.

@@ruisenor8993 , you're trash like the last two if you think so.

I think he had a wet fart and wanted to check if its really wet...

George simopoulou, it wouldn't work with today's late night because the second it gets deep people rush to IG and facebook.

In music, "fashions of reality" come and go. Every five or ten years some new star comes along with a fresh way of delivering reality, but then everyone starts mimicking it and it eventually becomes a familiar mannerism and finally a cliche.

It is an excellent term, and an interesting interview (although I am finding the "fashions of 1981" challenging, it was an ugly period for casual wear)

This is not the kind of thing that you hear in a Interview nowadays

The new X-Men Movie is starting to look pretty good!

real or joke?

Well.. you shall not pass

Bravo 👏

HA 😂

Cory you win and erteple you fail

😁

Gandalf the Gay

Gandalf the Black or... Just for Men?

MilesBellas / omg ! THAT’s IT ! I was wondering , “ how do I know this man ?”... “ Lord of the Rings “ 😱

omg exactly

He didn't just decide to speak in that dramatic Received Pronunciation accent as an old man lol.

@@anaussie213 no but it is the voice of an elderly man, its weird seeing someone in their 30s/40s with that voice XD

funny thing is, everyone with a 'young person voice' now is gonna seem as equally weird when it still sounds like that coming out of their 'old person' bodies

So true!!! lol