He's 84 years old, the grizzled Sir Ian McKellan we all know and love from his roles as Gandalf in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, Magneto in X-Men, or the nasty old man in Apt Pupil. But despite his age, the actor has no plans whatsoever to hang up his hat, and in a recent interview with Variety he made the following comments:
"Retire to do what?"
"I've never been out of work, but I'm aware that any minute now something could happen to me which could prevent me from ever working again. But while the knees hold up and the memory remains intact, why shouldn't I carry on? I really feel I'm quite good at this acting thing now."
And you can't blame him, it's nice that he has something to do even in his old age that keeps his memory fresh. Better that than rotting away in a villa or retirement home anyway. Or what do you say?
Do you think Mr McKellan is doing the right thing, and how do you feel about retirement, is it something you look forward to or do you want to work as long as possible?