Now 76 years old, Ian McKellen plays a 90-year-old Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes, but the actor insists that being busy at work is the key to his feeling youthful, while he has "intimations of incapacity."
"Keep working, keep moving, keep exercising, keep thinking, keep enjoying yourself, “ he counselled in an interview with Time Out.
McKellen insists he had to dispense with his generation’s way of thinking, typically told that their best years would be behind them at retirement age. “
"My generation was brought up to think there was a 'prime in life’, the X Men star said. “When your relationships were settled, your finances were in order, you knew what it was to be you. Well in my prime of life I became famous. It was surprising, but it's been very enjoyable. I get recognised, but not that often, and it's usually to say thank you. That's nice for any actor."
He admitted that he was old. “ I've been a pensioner for over 10 years. So I have intimations of incapacity. As an actor you can call on that. I'm younger than Holmes in the film, and I feel younger. But it's not that difficult to know what I've got to look forward to."
