Ian McKellen Filmography: Movies and Television Credits

This Ian McKellen filmography covers 55 movie titles and 13 television titles from the available cast credits. Multiple roles in the same title are grouped together. It is a selection of screen credits, rather than a complete record of every performance. Credits may include acting, voice work, uncredited roles and appearances as themselves.

Ian McKellen movies by release year

The years below are film release years, not filming dates.

• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) as Chauvelin
• The Keep (1983) as Dr. Theodore Cuza
• Plenty (1985) as Sir Andrew Charleson
• Scandal (1989) as John Profumo
• And the Band Played On (1993) as Bill Kraus
• Last Action Hero (1993) as Death
• Six Degrees of Separation (1993) as Geoffrey
• The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) as Percy Corcoran
• I'll Do Anything (1994) as John Earl McAlpine
• The Shadow (1994) as Dr. Reinhardt Lane
• Cold Comfort Farm (1995) as Amos Starkadder
• Jack & Sarah (1995) as William
• Restoration (1995) as Will Gates
• Richard III (1995) as Richard III
• Rasputin (1996) as Tsar Nicholas II
• Bent (1997) as Uncle Freddie
• Apt Pupil (1998) as Kurt Dussander
• Gods and Monsters (1998) as James Whale
• Swept from the Sea (1998) as Dr. James Kennedy
• Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man (2000) as Narrator (voice)
• X-Men (2000) as Magneto
• X-Men: The Mutant Watch (2000) as Self - 'Magneto'
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) as Gandalf
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) as Gandalf
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) as Gandalf
• X2 (2003) as Eric Lehnsherr / Magneto
• Asylum (2005) as Dr. Peter Cleave
• Neverwas (2005) as Gabriel Finch
• Ringers: Lord of the Fans (2005) as Self
• The Magic Roundabout (2005) as Zebedee (voice)
• Doogal (2006) as Zebedee (voice)
• Flushed Away (2006) as The Toad (voice)
• The Da Vinci Code (2006) as Sir Leigh Teabing
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
• Stardust (2007) as Narrator (voice)
• The Golden Compass (2007) as Iorek Byrnison (voice)
• Doctor Who: The Snowmen (2012) as The Great Intelligence (voice)
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) as Gandalf the Grey
• The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (2013) as Self
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) as Gandalf the Grey
• The Wolverine (2013) as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
• The Wolverine: Path of a Ronin (2013) as Self
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) as Gandalf the Grey
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) as Magneto
• Mr. Holmes (2015) as Sherlock Holmes
• The Dresser (2015) as Norman
• Beauty and the Beast (2017) as Cogsworth
• All Is True (2018) as Earl of Southampton
• Animal Crackers (2018) as Horatio P. Huntington (voice)
• McKellen: Playing the Part (2018) as Self
• Cats (2019) as Gus, the Theatre Cat
• The Good Liar (2019) as Roy Courtnay
• Infinitum: Subject Unknown (2021) as Dr. Charles Marland-White
• The Critic (2024) as Jimmy Erskine
• The Christophers (2026) as Julian Sklar

Ian McKellen television roles and appearances

Television titles are listed alphabetically. An appearance date is included only where verified for Ian McKellen; a programme's premiere year does not establish when a performer appeared in it.

• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway as Self
• Coronation Street as Mel Hutchwright
• David Copperfield as Creakle
• Extras as Ian McKellen
• Family Guy as Dr. Cecil Pritchfield (voice)
• Sesame Street as Self
• Tales of the City as Archibald Anson Gidde
• ted as Narrator (voice)
• The Oscars as Self
• The Prisoner as 2 / Curtis
• The Simpsons as Ian McKellen (voice)
• Vicious as Freddie Thornhill
• Who Do You Think You Are? as Self

Credit information: TMDB, with additional sources listed below where used. The titles shown here do not establish the beginning or end of Ian McKellen's career, and omissions should not be treated as evidence that a credit does not exist.