Ian McKellan: "If you get criticized, good - I don't think people get criticized enough. People talk behind your back and they criticize you, but they don't often come up and say it to you."

Ian McKellan: "In any human-rights campaign, everybody must do what they can."

Ian McKellan: "I increasingly see organized religion as actually my enemy. They treat me as their enemy. Not all Christians, of course. Not all Jews, not all Muslims."

Ian McKellan: "My ambition is to get better as an actor."

Ian McKellan: "In the past, kids didn't tell their parents they were gay, so there were never the bust-ups. Some parents react so strongly to the news that their children are gay that the reaction is, 'Get out of our house.' There's a residue of old prejudices that are going to die hard."

Ian McKellan: "Until I came out, my acting was all about disguise, and there after it became about telling the truth."

Ian McKellan: "It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous."

Ian McKellan: "On the whole, actors shout when they don't know what they're doing, trying to make an impact."

Ian McKellan: "Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There's more to life than you know and it's all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and then go for it."

Ian McKellan: "I certainly don't disparage someone whose attitude towards their work is utterly different from mine - that's up to them."

Ian McKellan: "I used to comfort myself when I became an actor that it was a useful job, entertaining people. And it was important to do it as well as you possibly can."

Ian McKellan: "People on television have trouble with fame because audiences think they're their mates."

Ian McKellan: "Acting is a very personal process. It has to do with expressing your own personality, and discovering the character you're playing through your own experience - so we're all different."

Ian McKellan: "How do I act so well? What I do is I pretend to be the person I'm portraying in the film or play."

Ian McKellan: "Why do you act? You act for an audience. In the theatre, you're in their presence. Film stars don't know what it is to have an audience."

Ian McKellan: "I learned that coming out was crucial to self-esteem."