Ian McKellen in Havana
The renowned actor Ian Murray McKellen, famous for his roles in films like Lord of the Ring and X Men, confessed his attraction towards Cuba
With a great sense of humour and amazed by the humanist gratitude of the Cubans during his stay in the island, the renowned actor Ian Murray McKellen, famous for his roles in films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and X Men ,confessed his attraction towards Cuba, although he needed more than four days to know it in its full diversity.
In a friendly chat with young students of visual arts and theatre at the British embassy, located in Vedado, the 76 year-old English actor recalled, his origin in the Northwest of the British Islands, his Islander temperament, as well as the pleasure and security he felt when he was near the sea in an open metaphor dedicated to the turquoise blue waters surrounding Havana’s seawall.
Asked about his knowledge of the Cuban current theatre and film production he answered he didn’t know of their works, although I did have some referents of the performing arts through his friend Steven, who was one of the founders of the British television and movie and told him about staging the play Charles III.
About the approach to the movie as an actor he answered that he was just an apprentice on the stage and that he enjoys the public at the theatre because of his constant communicative activity, while in the movie, he said, the camera acts like that restless public which is watching itself without a human being in between therefore it is difficult to play a character and be accepted at the same time.
For McKellen the movie is much more than his lifetime, it is the greatest expression of arts of the 20th century and we’ll see if it lives past the 21st,said the actor.
Also the English guest referred to the emotional burden of his characters. About his concerns he confirmed much to the listeners’ amazement that he should write a book about the characters he has played.
Ian Murray expressed that he has played political and military figures of strong character, among them Richard III, Lawrence of Arabia, Hitler…and that they as human beings are not worthy of admiration but are fascinating from the actor’s viewpoint due to the psychologic construction of the character and the abuse of power they exercised in the face of humanity. Likewise he referred to how Shakespeare treatise and his writings become quite interesting to approach this topic of the representation on stage and the characters.
Definitively the English playwright was incomprehensible for part of the audience coming from Europe and he recommended to see this idea as a logical cultural process, since many had grown learning how to read Shakespeare through his translations rather than his feelings, almost like knowing Van Gogh without all the colours. The point is not in reading but being that part of the public, which is attentively listening instead of looking, said the actor.
About other topics related to performing discrimination based on race, sexual orientation and other qualities, beyond the performance grading to define a candidate and a long-awaited Oscar prize, British Ian Murray defined himself as a social volunteer fighter against that scourge which are aggressive to true art.
The artist defended the colours of social diversity, freedom of speech and the willingness of the people to live in peace and in community with other nations and languages.
He finally recapped a passage from Shakespeare for the closure of the chat inviting the public to think about the meaning of immigration and the sense of the foreign, thus thanking Cuba for its human values.
Translated by ESTI