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'Gay actors fear film ban'
By Suzy Austin, Metro Last updated at 00:00am on 13.02.06
Speaking out: Sir Ian McKellan
Hollywood's 'old-fashioned attitudes' keep gay performers in the closet, British actor knight Sir Ian McKellen has told movie fans.
The openly homosexual star said gay American actors found it extremely hard to be open about their sexuality while lesbians found the situation even worse.
The Lord of the Rings star spoke out when he received a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival.
Claiming that his career in mainstream films 'really took off' when he came out as a gay, he added: 'The film industry is very old-fashioned in California.
'It's very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality.
'It's even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It's very distressing to me that that should be the case. It's not true of actors on Broadway, where people are very at ease with being open and honest.'
The 66-year-old said that one of his films, Gods and Monsters, was a big turning point for him when he portrayed a gay film director.
He spoke as Brokeback Mountain, a film about love between gay cowboys, drew big audiences in Britain.
