Sir Ian McKellen Wants To Star In A Musical… That Isn’t ‘Cats’!
By Kristin Myers on January 25, 2022 at 9:30 AM EST
Sir Ian McKellen would like to star in a musical one day.
The 82-year-old British actor has seen his career span seven decades in the entertainment industry. He is most known for his role as Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and later reprised his role in “The Hobbit” trilogy.
He has also appeared in the original “X-Men,” 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” and appeared as Gus in the 2019 film adaption of the musical “Cats” that was widely regarded as a cinematic failure.
Sir Ian McKellen Wants To Star In A Musical Performance!
On BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program, McKellen was promoting his new detective play called “Whodunnit (Unrehearsed)” when he mentioned that he would like to appear in a musical.
He said that although he “doesn’t have much to prove anymore,” starring in a musical is “one of the few areas left” that he wants to tackle!
When asked about his vocal ability, McKellen joked, “I can hold a tune but I’m not a proper singer. I’m available but incompetent.”
“I don’t feel I have much to prove in my career anymore so why not just do the things I enjoy doing, like getting in front of an audience and entertaining them,” he added.
Although McKellen has appeared as Widow Twankey in a version of “Aladdin” at London’s Old Vic, it’s his role as Gus in Tom Hooper’s “Cats” that has really had people talking.
Critics Cough Up A Furball While Trying To Swallow ‘Cats’
The 2019 film adaption “Cats,” based on the play by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has been poorly received by critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a Tomatometer score of only 19% and an audience rating of 53%.
It was hard for many audiences to swallow the film’s failure, especially when it sported an all-star cast of Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, Idris Elba as Macavity, Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy, Jennifer Hudson as Gizabella, James Corden as Bustopher Jones, and Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger.
Deborah Ross of The Spectator wrote, “The film is flat, without any of the camp, kitsch high energy that characterised the stage show, but its wrongness is never less than mesmerising.”
Alonso Duralde of Breakfast All Day wrote, “You can’t believe what you’re looking at because it’s so hideous to behold.”
Sandra Hall of the Sydney Morning Herald wrote, “While it's far from being perfect, or even purr-fect, it certainly doesn't warrant the abuse that has been heaped upon it. At the very least, it deserves a chance.”
Clarisse Loughrey of UK’s Independent wrote, “It's one of those rare cinematic events that feels like a collective hallucination - improbable and entirely indescribable.”
Some Audience Members Say That Sir Ian McKellen Was ‘The Best Part By Far’
One user named Keon B said that they actually enjoyed “Cats” and said that McKellen’s role as Gus was “the best part by far.”
“I (ironically) enjoyed Cats,” Keon wrote. “Luckily, everyone warned me about the horrific imagery and events in the film. So I was thoroughly prepped for the terrible moments. Some moments are so bizarre that you need to watch it with a friend and laughed or else you'll go insane.”
“Ian McKellan is the best part by far,” Keon continued. “Not only does he look more like the cats from the Musical, but you can tell he was given very little direction and he acted insane to spite the director. It's worth a watch only to see what everyone is talking about.”
Other reviews praised the acting of Taylor Swift and Jason Derulo.
“CATS was a marvelous disaster, with witty charm and emotion throughout, cheeky charisma and crying no doubt...” Nicholas P wrote. “I personally went in expecting the worst movie I had ever seen - and it was far more awful and disappointing than I expected.”
“I'll give the movie some credit, the performances were amazing and there were some pretty emotional and heartbreaking scenes,” Nicholas added. “The plot of CATS 2019 (the play too obviously) has a very compelling story and a strong list of characters. Taylor Swift was [an] interesting side villain, and Jason Derulo was always great to see on screen. This movie was horrifically creepy with a positive tone, but really, it conflicted harshly with my vibes. But, I'd watch it again to be bluntly honest.”
If fans want to check out Sir Ian McKellen in the 2019 film adaption of “Cats,” it’s currently available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime Video, the iTunes Store, Vudu, and the Google Play store.
