Ian Mckellen Quotes

To be an actor you have to be a child.

To a certain extent I suppose all actors are big kids.

To that extent that you can sustain and maintain that childlike part of your personality is probably the best part of acting.

I think acting is totally conducive to being a little kid, because kids are less inhibited and use their imagination.

My imagination is closer to a child's imagination than to a grown-up's.

I'm still very much a kid inside myself.

I think it is important for kids to be kids.

As a child, I always liked dressing up and getting into character, and actors are lucky in being able to retain that playfulness, though we do seem to find it hard to grow up.

Young actors are pretty fantastic. I can't even imagine doing stuff like that when I was a kid.

If it seems a childish thing to do, do it in remembrance that you are a child.

It's easier for a kid to have fun and have an imagination.

When you're a kid, you should be a kid.

Children are wonderful!

Actors usually have a lot in common with kids.

I think what kids do is play.

Children are funny.

It's essential that a part of you not grow up. Childhood wonder gives us our spark and beauty.

When I was six years old I sprinkled sugar on my head, convinced myself it was pixie dust, wished myself invisible, and walked into the boys' bathroom at school.

I think that most actors attempt to keep in touch with the child.

Growing up and being a kid, I knew that creativity was at the heart of what I wanted to do. I always had this feeling of wanting to be a comedian and wanting to be an actor.

I am often accused of being childish. I prefer to interpret that as child-like. I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things. I tend to exaggerate and fantasize and embellish. I still listen to instinctual urges. I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind. I never water my garden without soaking myself. It has been after such times of joy that I have achieved my greatest creativity and produced my best work.

I’m still very much a kid inside myself.

The child in us is always there, you know, and it's the best part of us, the winged part that travels farthest.

I like being able to play make believe as my job. I think I played make-believe growing up a little too long - probably to an inappropriate age. I played make-believe until I was, like, 13 and probably should have been doing something else. But other than that, it's fun to be able to have to learn about different people.

It is the childlike part of us that produces works of the imagination. When we were children time passed so slow with us that we seemed to have time for everything.