Sir Ian McKellen: David Cameron’s insistence on same-sex marriage was ‘astonishing’
Sir Ian McKellen has spoken in praise of Tory Prime Minister David Cameron for pushing through same-sex marriage.
The actor and veteran Stonewall campaigner told Sunday Times Magazine that Mr Cameron had “dragged” his party forward on the issue.
He said: “It’s astonishing for a Tory Prime Minister to insist on gay marriage, dragging the party behind him.
“I suppose it’s possible because we live in a small country and you only have to persuade about 50 people, all of whom live within sight of this window, and if they agree, they can have it in law within a year.
“Americans have to slog through every state.”
The actor previously joked that he would like a bedroom scene with Sir Derek Jacobi on the pair’s ITV sitcom Vicious.
He said: “We have not yet had a scene seeing the two of them in bed together, and I don’t see why that couldn’t be the case.
“In the past, gay characters in soaps have been quite unbelievable and you couldn’t imagine them in bed.
“But Freddie and Stuart have sex and are rude about each other.”
Sir Derek Jacobi recently spoke about coming out to his mother, who declared his sexuality “a phase”.
Sir Ian will appear in the upcoming film Mr Holmes, playing detective Sherlock Holmes as an elderly man.
