Sir Ian McKellen: Couple photos with Patrick Stewart were his wife’s idea
Remember the adorable holiday snaps of X-men co-stars Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart? Well, now we know who’s to blame!
Last year the pair of veteran actors shared a number of adorable snaps of their visit to New York – holding hands in front of the Stonewall Inn, and visiting some of the city’s biggest sites.
The pair’s photos quickly went viral, leading to speculation despite Stewart being straight and married – and Stonewall co-founder Sir Ian has finally explained how they came about.
He told Uproxx: “Well, the image of those fun photos of Patrick and me – which were taken by his wife, Sunny – are of someone who seems to be enjoying themselves.
“And not removed from the everyday; not living behind some gated community in Beverly Hills, remote from the rest. And that is the case! I go on public transport at home and here.
“Sometimes there’s a limo, but on the whole, I’d rather just walk everywhere and that’s reflected in that image. Now, I think, frankly, I could do without having an image at all.
“I’d rather just be the actor who just shows up and works, then goes home. Nobody ever took a selfie with Laurence Olivier. They never even recognized him! He was never bothered in the streets. He never gave an interview.”
He continued: “What I thought was fun about Sunny’s idea to do those shots of Patrick and me, was at least they were taken by somebody who knew us; who knew what we would like to do. There was nothing that was forced. It wasn’t a PR idea. It was, but it was in family.”
The two actors play sworn enemies Magneto and Professor X in the X-Men films – but are so close in real life that Sir Ian officiated at the wedding of Sir Patrick and his wife Sunny Ozell in 2013.
The pair also locked lips at the première of Sir Ian’s latest film, Mr Holmes – though it’s not clear whether they were also put up to that by Sir Patrick’s wife.
