Sir Ian McKellen has been telling the folk over at Rotton Tomatoes why he prefers Gandalf The Grey over the more spiritual Gandalf The white.
“Grey Gandalf is my favourite, Peter Jackson’s too, we always preferred Gandalf the Grey. Peter liked him because he got down and dirty. He slept in the hedgerows; he was closer to the earth and not quite so spiritual. He’s also funnier… he’s got more variety to him. We thought there was more scope in that Gandalf.”
Sir Ian is in Spain for the San Sebastian Film Festival where he picked up a special Donostia award recognising his achievements in acting.
He started the interview by discussing his worries about typecasting but quickly put to bed any worries about whether he may be having second thoughts.
“If you play a part that gets an awful lot of attention,” he explained, “forever after you’re being asked by directors to play the same part in their movie. But I played the best wizard, and I’m happy to revisit him, which I shall do in The Hobbit with Guillermo del Toro.”
“He appeals to really young people. Gandalf has 8 and 9 year old fans who’ve seen his films a great deal more than I have. Their faces when they meet the actor who plays Gandalf are wonderful to behold, so that’s been special.”
Source: Rotton Tomatoes
Gandalf – Who was he?
As well as Gandalf The grey and later ‘The White,’ Gandalf was also known as The Grey Wanderer, The Grey Pilgrim, Stormcrow, Greyhame and several other aliases.
He was one of the 5 Maiar (a lower angel) who first appeared in Middle Earth about 1000 years into the Third Age. The other 4 were Saruman, Radagast, Pallando and Alatar.
They came to Middle Earth in the form of old men and the color refers to their rank with white being the highest.
Gandalf took to wandering and was the only one to show an interest in Hobbits.
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