Ian McKellen Reveals How He Transformed His Voice to Play Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: From Original to ‘Smoky’
Ian McKellen’s portrayal of Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings will always hold a special place in people’s hearts and in the history of on-screen Gandalf portrayals. He is the only actor from Tolkien’s film adaptations of the franchise to have received an Oscar nomination. Additionally, McKellen is one of the few actors who reprised his role in Peter Jackson’s prequel trilogy of The Hobbit films.
In a 2023 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jackson shared how the X-Men actor crafted his voice to embody Gandalf. Surprisingly, McKellen based his performance on the voice and mannerisms of the LOTR author himself. “We came across a recording of Tolkien reading a passage from The Hobbit. Hearing his smoky, very English, rather professorial voice was very helpful,” McKellen revealed to the outlet.
The actor found imitating Tolkien’s voice, a University professor who passed away in 1973, to be inspiring because it felt authentic. Hearing the voice of the late author aloud resonated with McKellen.
Furthermore, McKellen found that using the audio wasn’t too far-fetched in the movie-making process. “He even sold the film rights for The Lord of the Rings, so unlike some of his family, he was actually quite pleased that they were made into films, even though he never saw our version,” McKellen added.
Despite a successful career spanning decades, Lord of the Rings propelled McKellen to a new level of fame.
When asked about his sudden rise in popularity due to his portrayal of the iconic wizard, McKellen humbly shared that he was simply doing his job, and then suddenly everyone knew about it. He feels fortunate for the love and recognition the role has brought him. “I’m a bit of a reserved person, but nowadays I can walk into a room full of strangers and there’s always someone who wants to talk to Gandalf,” the actor joked.