i want to bring it back from the public ian mckellen to the private and deeply personal ian mckellen. have always guarded your own private life. i know that at one point, you decided to write an autobiography. you took the money, the advance. i didn't. it was offered. you handed it back and never actually got it. the point is, you had second thoughts. why? i don't think there is anything remarkable about my private life, from what i can observe. there is a clear distinction between saying, i am what i am, and saying, this is what i do. i do not want to start talking about my relationships. that is not fair, unless the other person is with me talking about it as well. but the idea of an autobiography is very misleading. you get one side of the story. but on the principle, on the issue, i can be bold. and knowing that i am in the right, standing on the moral high ground, that is easier. to be nosy, i will dig a bit more into the personal. you live in a country where things have changed an awful lot in your lifetime. frankly, if you were in your 20s or 30s now, you could, in a way that y