Ian Mckellen

"Godot is whatever it is in life that you are waiting for: 'I'm waiting to win the lottery. I'm waiting to fall in love'. For me, as a child, it was Christmas. At least that eventually came."

"It's only fair that stable gay relationships of long standing should have the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. I know the image of gay marriage is to some people horrific and ludicrous."

"Magneto wants to cope with the difficulties thrust upon him by society and by his own nature."

"Splendid architecture, the love of your life, an old friend... they can all go drifting by unseen if you're not careful."

"The conventional wisdom is that if you are gay, you cannot play the romantic straight lead in a movie."

"The huge difference in my lifetime is that you can just go up to somebody and make a pass. You couldn't do that in the 1950s if you were gay. There were secret handshakes, a secret language. There was nowhere you could go to be romantic outside of people's houses."

"The strength of British theatre should be that these actors in their middle years know what they're doing and are good at it. Not rich, not famous, but making a living."

"Why not celebrate those who want to marry and bring up a family?"