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When 14-year-old first-time filmmaker Jacob Franklin came calling, Sir Ian McKellen answered.
McKellen is set to appear in Franklin's debut film, Dragged Through Time, which explores 1000 years of LGBTQ+ history and how it has led to today's world.
According to PinkNews, McKellen is playing a character named Great Uncle Peter, inspired by LGBTQ+ people from the 70s and 80s. His character is one who "everybody thinks is gay, but it's just rumors circulating, nothing confirmed."
McKellen joined the project after Franklin contacted him through Eton College's director of drama, Scott Handy.
"We weren't really expecting a reply but then he texts us back and says in his words, not mine, that he's 'really inspired by this and would love to come and do this'. And I'm like, yes, absolutely," Franklin said to PinkNews.
He added that working with McKellen was just as easy as working with any other actor, saying: "It didn't feel like a professional actor was sitting in the room with me."
Franklin also spoke about the scale of the film.
“We’re bringing a lot of skills together. We’re making our own music, we’re mostly making our own costumes and designing it all. My best friend’s working on the music, and Nic, who’s on the Pride committee, is our dress-maker," he said to PinkNews. "It's been empowering but also shocking experience, quite overwhelming."
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In a video shared on Facebook, McKellen spoke about why he joined the project.
"I often look back to myself at his age and regret," McKellen said. "I wasn't close enough to my parents to talk to them about what I knew of myself, that I was gay. The idea that at 14, I could have plucked up the courage to have a conversation with them about something so personal… So I never told either of my parents that their only son was gay. So to see him and this situation makes me think, 'Oh perhaps I could have done this if I'd been a bit braver or the world had been a bit different.'"
McKellen is one of the most popular actors ever, earning two Oscar nominations for his performances in Gods and Monsters and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, where he played the wizard Gandalf. He also starred as Magneto in several X-Men movies.
The project is produced by Notice Productions, a youth-led drama collective from Windsor, UK, that is "committed to making films that deal with the important stuff," according to the group's website.
Dragged Through Time will premiere at the first Windsor and Eton Pride this July. It will be screened at Alexandra Gardens, in Windsor, on July 26.Recommended Stories for You
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