Ian McKellen Recalls Elliot Page Being Soft Spoken on 'X-Men' Set Before Coming Out As Transgender

Ian McKellen is opening up about what he thought about Elliot Page coming out as transgender.

If you don’t recall, Ian and Elliot starred together in X-Men: The Last Stand, as Magneto and Kitty Pryde.

“Everything gets better [when you come out because you get self-confidence],” Ian told Attitude magazine. “You get better in terms of relationships, friends of all sorts, family, if you’re lucky. And in my case, I think in every case, your acting is bound to change and improve.”

Ian, who has been openly gay since the 1980s, recalled his relationship with Elliot.

“I remember Elliot Page, in one of the X-Men [movies], sat as close as we are now. And I had to speak when they’d finished, and I couldn’t hear what they were saying,” Ian shared of one of the moments on set. “Nobody could hear what they were saying. So, I said, ‘Look, if you can’t speak up, would you mind when you’re finished speaking, just dropping your hand so I know when you’ve finished speaking?’”

“Then they came out [as gay] years later and suddenly you couldn’t stop them talking. You heard everything. Now…they’re Elliot. And I’m so happy for Elliot, and so disappointed in myself that I didn’t detect what their difficulty was with communicating,” he added.

Elliot, who goes by he/him pronouns, has been getting lots of support from fans and friends in the industry.