Sir Ian McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is a British actor whose career spans more than six decades across stage and screen. He is best known for playing Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Magneto in the X-Men films, and has collected a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards and a Golden Globe along the way. In The Christophers (2025), directed by Steven Soderbergh, he plays Julian Sklar, a faded London painter whose children hatch a scheme to profit from his unfinished canvases.
McKellen returns as Magneto in Avengers: Doomsday (December 2026), the first time his X-Men character is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Christophers is now streaming via Hulu in the US, after the film was released in American cinemas in April 2026.
The Christophers premiered in limited release in the US on April 10, 2026, followed by a nationwide rollout via NEON starting April 17.
McKellen performed in An Ark, the first theatrical play specially created for mixed reality, in a seven-week run at The Shed in New York.
The Christophers had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2025; McKellen was absent on medical advice.
A theatre production featuring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel in leading roles at Theater de Speeldoos.
A celebrated artist hires an art restorer to complete his hidden paintings and pass them off as lost masterpieces. Drama starring Ian McKellen, Jessica Gunning, and Michaela Coel.