Ian McKellen calls lifelong friend Patrick Stewart the 'most respected and beloved actor,' in moving tribute
McKellen shared a post honouring his longtime friend and collaborator following Stewart’s death
There are few British acting duos quite as well-loved as Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart — and as McKellen prepares to go on without his lifelong friend, he's reflecting on their journey together.
McKellen shared a lengthy tribute to Stewart on Wednesday night, calling him "the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic," and saying he was true to his Yorkshire upbringing to the core.
"He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love," McKellen wrote in an Instagram post, accompanied by a photo of Stewart.
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McKellen → call → Stewart
Stewart died on Wednesday at the age of 86 at his Los Angeles home after a "brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s and Lewy Body Dementia," according to a statement shared on his Instagram Thursday.
Since then, a flood of tributes have cascaded in from friends, former co-stars and fans, all shining a light on what Stewart meant to them.
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Stewart → die → them
For two decades, McKellen and Stewart starred opposite each other as fated friends-turned-foes Magneto and Prof. Charles Xavier, respectively, in the X-Men film series.
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McKellen → star → series
McKellen is now facing the red carpet of their final film together without his artistic partner.
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McKellen → face → partner
Both reprised their roles in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, set to be released in December.
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Both → reprise → December
Stewart and McKellen speak at the John L. Tishman Auditorium at University Center on Jan. 28, 2014, in New York City.
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Stewart → speak → City
They first appeared together as the duo in the movie X-Men in 2000, but they’d known each other for years before that partnership cemented their friendship.
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partnership → appear → friendship
The two British actors, only a year apart in age, both came up in the theatre scene in London.
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both → come → London
Although they met through the Royal Shakespeare Company, McKellen wrote in his post, they weren't in the same productions.
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they → meet → productions
Still, they cared about each other's careers early on — McKellen said he remembered running into Stewart in the street while the latter was contemplating playing Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which would become a career-defining role.
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which → care → Trek
McKellen, at the time, thought it was a terrible idea, a risk to Stewart's stage career.
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it → think → career
"Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did," McKellen wrote.
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McKellen → take → that
McKellen praised his acting roles on the stage and on screen, and highlighted that one of Stewart’s proudest achievements was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.
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one → praise → Yorkshire
Stewart and McKellen pose during a photo call for the X-Men: The Last Stand at the 59th International film festival in Cannes, southern France on May 22, 2006.
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Stewart → pose → May
For decades, when someone mentioned Stewart, McKellen's name wasn’t far behind.
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name → mention → Stewart
They starred together in X2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), performed on Broadway together in several theatrical productions in the 2010s and were close friends off-screen as well.
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They → star → screen
Stewart has previously said they first bonded while filming X-Men in 2000, when they shared adjoining trailers.
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they → say → trailers
"It was a simple matter of that we found we had a huge amount in common.
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we → find → amount
I love him deeply," Stewart told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020.
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Stewart → love → 2020
When Stewart married jazz singer Sunny Ozell in 2013, McKellen officiated the wedding — which he announced on The Jonathan Ross Show by saying, "I’m going to marry Patrick," sparking a round of laughter.
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I → marry → laughter
Stewart later told The Hollywood Reporter that McKellen had gotten ordained specifically to be able to officiate his wedding to Ozell.
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McKellen → tell → Ozell
Stewart and McKellen arrive for the U.K. premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past in London on May 12, 2014.
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Stewart → arrive → May
They reprised their roles in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, their final film together.
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They → reprise → Avengers
The ease of friendship between them has included the occasional liplock on a red carpet.
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ease → include → carpet
Since coming out in 1988, McKellen has been one of the most public gay figures in media, and while Stewart received praise for his open allyship over the years, he's said in the past that it wasn’t something he had to think about.
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he → come → past
"There was never a moment where I made an intellectual choice that I would be a supporter of gay civil rights," Stewart said in an interview with The Advocate in 2015.
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Stewart → be → 2015
He added that when the Guardian misidentified him as a gay man in a news story in 2014 and then ran a correction, he was "utterly flattered by that assumption."
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he → add → assumption
McKellen, he said, was the first to reach out to him about it, cheekily sending an email that said, "Congratulations!"
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that → say → Congratulations
In 2009, they shared the stage for a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, an experience McKellen later said he enjoyed so much that he broke down in tears after it ended.
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it → share → tears
"I was heartbroken," McKellen told CBS News in a shared interview with Stewart.
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McKellen → tell → Stewart
"And then we were going to say goodbye to each other.
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we → go → other
You were going off to do other things and I just felt I would never be as happy again."
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I → go → things
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