May 27 this year – Two days after Ian McLean's 79th birthday, his documentary [McLean: Acting] will be the first to be released in the UK.
Most of the audience of our generation met him a little bit and hated him.
After all, when we mention Grandpa Ian's name, we can immediately think of "dried tofu" in the [Lord of the Rings] series.
▲ Or is the "Old Man" in the [x-Men] series
But before becoming a film actor, Ian McLean was already a well-known Shakespeare prince.
His other identity is that he is an active promoter of the LGBT affirmative action movement
It's often said that "a thousand viewers have a thousand Hamlet faces in their minds," but there must be one, Ian McLean.
Born to love theatre
Ian McLean once said, "I put painful experiences into my creations", and his boyhood was indeed much more bumpy than most people.
Grandpa Ian's father was an engineer, and his parents and family's love of stage art deeply influenced him
Ian was born shortly after the outbreak of World War II, and he once told that until he was four years old, he slept under the iron plate.
When Ian was 12 years old, his birth mother died and he has been raised by his stepmother ever since.
Fortunately, her stepmother Gladys did not treat Ian as harshly as the bad woman in a fairy tale, but gave him understanding and support.
When Ian came out to her stepmother as a teenager, she said, "I'm glad you finally don't have to lie to yourself anymore."
At the age of 18, Ian received a scholarship to enter Cambridge University, and it was from here that he officially embarked on the road to becoming an actor
Cambridge has always been known for its rich theatrical elite, and in the era of Shakespeare's life, there were a large number of university playwrights who competed against it.
Here, young Ian McLean also met more of his fellow travelers.
He was initially deeply infatuated with Drake Jacobi "with an undisclosed and unrequited enthusiasm", but unfortunately the relationship did not get a response at the time.
▲ Two former Cambridge talents, later in the BBC drama "Need for The Best Old Wife" "finally became a family member"
By the age of 22, Ian McLean had made his stage debut at the Theatre Theatre in Belgrade by starring in the historical drama Sun Moon Jingzhong.
▲ This is the first ID photo taken by Grandpa Ian as a professional stage actor that year
Every stage actor had the ultimate goal of landing in London's West End, and it took Ian McLean only four years from debut to the West End.
After this, he joined the Lawrence Oliver Theatre Company, performing permanently at the Old Vic Theatre.
In 1969, 30-year-old Ian McLean came to the Edinburgh Theatre Festival with his work Edward II, and his name became louder and louder in the theater circle.
▲ Ian Mei Qingmuxiu in "Edward II" is really a young prince
▲[McLean: Acting] also has a video of Ian introducing himself during this period, "I am 30 years old, I am an actor, and my salary is £50 a week."
Since then, Ian McLean has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, and in the '70s and '80s, Ian was the most popular "Prince of Shakespeare" on stage.
At that time, there were not only Ian on the stage, but also a large number of shining figures such as Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Anthony Hopkins and so on.
It was really the best years of stage drama.
He loves to laugh, and his luck will not be too bad
In our conception, stage actors, especially Shakespearean actors, should naturally have a straight face and not smile all day long.
But Ian McLean is different, and in most photographers' shots, it's the way he laughs.
▲ Grandpa Ian who laughs is always very cute, and he probably has a comedian in his heart
Ian McLean's blood is filled with the cold humor of the British, whether on stage or in interviews, if he doesn't make you laugh, even if he loses.
He once imitated how an 18th-century actor named David Garrick played Macbeth on a talk show.
▲ If it weren't for Grandpa Ian's quite free-spirited self on stage when he was young, we wouldn't have had the chance to see his "convulsive" Macbeth monologue
Regarding the matter of his own harmonic physique, Ian McLean also felt quite helpless:
"I counted, when I played Romeo, the balcony would be that scene, and the audience laughed 24 times."
"When I play Hamlet, everyone thinks it's a comedian, and even when I play Macbeth, people laugh."
▲ Grandpa Ian on the stage is obviously super serious
Ian McLean once mentioned that he entered the National Theatre because of Maggie Smith's recommendation.
But the more such old friends, the more Grandpa Ian liked to joke with them:
"After Maggie Smith recommended me to join the NCP team, where I met another lad, Anthony Hopkins."
"Later, when people mentioned Maggie, they said ' the one who played Harry Potter', and when they mentioned Anthony, they said 'the one who stripped someone else's face'."
"When I think of me, it's 'Oh, the one who made the action movie.'"
▲ Action superstar McLean? Where did that come from?
Fans who love british film and television often joke that british actors are half in "Harry Potter" and half in "Doctor Who".
Grandpa Ian not only did not play any of them, but was always mistaken for Dumbledore's actor. Only if he catches the opportunity, he will certainly not let go of this stem easily:
He replied proudly, "I have never played Dumbledore, but I play Gandalf as a real white-robed wizard." ”
Personality humor is humor, and when it comes to principles about acting, Ian McLean never rubs sand in his eyes.
Speaking of today's stage, Ian McLean said sadly:
"Now there are no rules for stage performance, as long as someone says they are a professional actor, they can act as they want."
▲ In 2016, Ian starred in "No Man's Land" with "Professor X" Patrick Stewart, and the two old drama bones taught young actors a good lesson
Some actors, as long as they stand on the stage, can make us as an audience feel very solid, and we can definitely watch a good play today.
That's the case with Ian McLean.