Mckellen Will Never Wed

SIR IAN MCKELLEN is convinced he will never marry - because he always thought it would be impossible for a gay man to wed and have children.

The actor admits the idea of a legal union has “never crossed” his mind - even though gay marriage is legal in his native Britain.

He says, “That’s the scar that I and so many others bear - we believed ourselves to be second-rate citizens for so long, the idea of being able to say, ‘This is my husband, these are my children,’ was not an option.”

And he tells Details magazine that a comment playwright Tom Stoppard made shortly after he ‘came out’ as a gay man at the age of 49 has stuck with him ever since.

He recalls, “(Stoppard said), ‘I feel so sorry for you, because you’ll never have children.’ These days I would say, ‘Well, why not, Tom?’ But 20 years ago I accepted his judgment.”