Ian McKellen Opens Up About His Decision to Stay Closeted Most of His Life

Ian McKellen is getting candid about his decision to remain closeted most of his life.

The 80-year-old Lord of The Rings actor didn’t come out as a gay man until he was 49.

In a new biography, Ian McKellen: A Biography, Ian explained the choice had to do with homosexuality being criminalized in England for a majority of his life.

He added that he was also concerned how it would impact his career.

“Would audiences take his acting seriously, as Romeo for instance, if they knew that in real life he fancied Mercutio rather than Juliet?” biography author Gary O’Connor wrote (via People).

But in 1988, Ian announced his sexuality during a debate on a radio broadcast when the interviewer said something derogatory about gay people.

Gary added, “He had left the dark closet of secrecy for self-exposure and liberation. This galvanized him, energised him in a direction he had never thought himself capable of. Identified now as a chaste, never promiscuous, completely dedicated general and leader of men, as an activist he displayed an inner mobilisation of force and direction of power in the social, political field.”

Ian has gone on to champion equality and protection for the LGBTQ community, writing articles, fundraising for nonprofits and serving as a founding member of Stonewall U.K.