Ian McKellen, 86, isn't worried about legacy – 'Death? Forget it'

NEW YORK – Sitting down with Sir Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, you’d understandably assume they are longtime friends.

The actors warmly chitchat about everything from indigestion to schoolyard bullies to their favorite Broadway shows, and at one point, break out into a warbling duet of “Memory” from “Cats.”

But the Brits only met last spring in London while filming their razor-sharp buddy comedy “The Christophers” (in theaters nationwide April 17), in which McKellen plays an ornery elderly artist who befriends a disillusioned young forger (Coel) hired to covertly copy his paintings.

“We didn’t start out as chums – just work, work, work,” says McKellen, 86, seated in a Tribeca hotel suite as Coel, 38, gently holds his arm.

“Along the way, we discovered we liked each other very much,” Coel chimes in. “I certainly wasn’t going in with any expectation, given how long he’s been in the game. But then it was like, ‘Oh, God, he’s so lovely.’ ”

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, “The Christophers” follows the ailing Julian (McKellen) as he hires a new personal assistant, Lori, portrayed by the Emmy-winning Coel (HBO’s “I May Destroy You”). But unbeknownst to Julian, Lori has been commissioned by his duplicitous kids (James Corden and Jessica Gunning) to finish a series of fabled, incomplete portraits that he stashed away years ago, in hopes of turning a profit when he dies.

The film examines the prickly relationship between criticism and art, as well as the gamble of meeting your heroes. Viewers come to learn that Lori long ago abandoned her painting ambitions after a chance encounter with Julian, who publicly lambasted her work.

Over his nearly seven-decade career on stage and screen, McKellen says he’s learned to tune out the noise of others’ opinions.

“I know when I’m being good and it’s not all the time,” says McKellen, a two-time Oscar nominee for “Gods and Monsters” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”

“I’m my own worst critic,” he adds. “I also can defend myself and understand that the critics have got it wrong, but I've had some scorchingly bad reviews.”

Coel, meanwhile, has never found negativity to be the best motivator, and she often finds reviews can be “quite triggering.” The “Black Panther” star remembers when her first TV series, “Chewing Gum,” premiered in the U.K. in 2015.

“In my early innocent brain, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go on Twitter where everyone’s going to say, ‘Well done! You managed to finish the show!’ ” Coel recalls. Afterward, “I learned, ‘Oh, don’t look at that.’ I think people put things online that they sometimes don’t even think themselves.”

Coel sees parallels between “Christophers” and her other spring movie, “Mother Mary” (in theaters nationwide April 24). In the psychological drama, she plays a fashion designer named Sam who reluctantly reconnects with her long-estranged friend, Mary (Anne Hathaway), a troubled pop star seeking a spellbinding new dress.

“Both Sam and Lori are somewhat calcified artists living in their own heads,” Coel says. “They’re in pain, and what will free them is making art that is led by some mysterious purpose. They both have that need for connection; making art feels like making a baby with somebody.”

“The Christophers” also deals with mortality, as Julian stares down the barrel of his life and wonders how he will be remembered. In his very British way, McKellen says he doesn’t concern himself with legacy “at all.” After injuring his neck and wrist during a scary stage fall in 2024, he remains as prolific as ever: reprising his role as Gandalf in an upcoming “Lord of the Rings” movie and playing Jacob Marley in a “Christmas Carol” adaptation with Johnny Depp.

“I work with people now who don’t know who Laurence Olivier or Noël Coward were – giants of my youth,” McKellen says. “As actors, we have our glory at the end of the show when the audience applauds. You can’t expect any more than that. It’s lovely when someone says they can remember a performance, and to realize that you’re a part of people’s lives.

“But come death? Forget it,” he says with a shrug. “We’ll look old-fashioned, out of date and unnecessary – and that’s fine.”