Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

World Service,05 Apr 2017,23 mins

Sir Ian McKellen - Actor

The Interview

Available for over a year

Whether you think of him as Richard III or Gandalf, you will know he has won hearts and accolades around the world - not just for five decades of work on stage and screen, but also for his passionate public advocacy, particular on the issue of gay rights. Sir Ian McKellen was brought up in a Britain in which homosexuality was still a crime. He did not come out publicly until he was 49. Almost three decades on he is still acting and still campaigning. For this special programme recorded in front of an audience to mark 20 years of Hardtalk, Stephen Sackur asks him to what extent has the cultural landscape changed?

Programme Website
More episodes