London June 26 (IANS) Award winning British actor Ian McKellen says it is time to reboot the James Bond franchise with the title character being portrayed as a gay man.
I do have an idea. I think Ian Fleming who wrote the original books knew all about (it). I m not sure subsequent actors have quite understood the joke which is the same as Superman. James Bond is a wimp variety.com quoted McKellen as saying.
He added: He s a silly Englishman that wants his martinis stirred. He changes his underwear like Superman and he can save the world. They all play it the same -- he s heroic all the way through. No he s not.
If you play James Bond as an outwardly camp silly gay man that no one took seriously and then he turned out as many gay men are underneath their clothes -- buff and strong and as hetero as any hetero -- we might have a more truthful story than the one that has been told.
Would he want to play this new Bond?
The 78-year-old actor who is outspoken about his homosexual status said: I m not volunteering. I m insisting. No I m too old to play it. I can be on the periphery of this new version.
The actor known for playing Magneto in the X-Men franchise also spoke about the lack of gay characters in major Hollywood tentpoles.
I wouldn t say the films coming out of the mainstream are quite as related to what s going on in the real world as I would like them to be.
One indication of that is LGBT people don t really get quite a big enough say. If you re one of those initials yourself you do notice that actually these movies are not about me at all he said.
--IANS
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Ian McKellen wants James Bond to be gay
