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How Ian McKellen Modeled His Original Voice Into A ‘Smoky’ One To Play Gandalf In The Lord of the Rings? Actor Reveals
Ian McKellen has been portraying the titular wizard Gandalf of the LOTR franchise since 2001! In a recent interview, the actor revealed the inspiration behind his iconic Gandalf voice, deets inside!
Ian McKellen’s Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings will forever be etched into people’s hearts and the history of on-screen Galdalf portrayals. He’s the only actor from Tolkien’s big-screen adaptations of the franchise to have received an Oscar nomination. Moreover, McKellen is also one of the few actors who reprised his character in Peter Jackson’s prequel trilogy of The Hobbit films.
In a 2023 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jackson revealed how the X-Men actor modeled his voice to play Gandalf. Surprisingly, he based his performance on the LOTR author’s voice and mannerisms. “We found a recording of Tolkien reading a bit of The Hobbit. It was very useful to hear the smoky voice — very English, rather professorial,” McKellen told the outlet.
According to the actor, imitating Tolkien's voice—who was a University teacher who passed away in 1973—was encouraging because he was not acting it too well. The idea of the late author’s voice being heard out loud appealed to McKellen.
Moreover, the audio wasn’t too big an extension of making a movie. “And of course, he sold the Lord of the Rings film rights,” McKellen added. “So unlike some of his family, he was very happy to think of them as films, although he never saw our version, of course,” he added.
McKellen has had a successful decades-long career, but Lord of the Rings has taken him to an extensive level of recognition.
When asked about his sudden rise to fame for portraying the titular wizard, the actor revealed that he was just doing his job and “suddenly everybody knew about it.” He considers himself “lucky” for the amount of love and recognition the role gave him. “I'm a rather shy person, but I can go into a room of strangers these days, and there's bound to be at least one person who wants to have a word with Gandalf,” the actor quipped.
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