Actor and gay activist Ian McKellen has shared a shot of himself in the 1960s – and fans are going wild.
McKellen took to Twitter to post the snap of himself wearing a suave jacket and polo neck shirt when he was in his twenties.
The Lord of the Rings actor included the simple caption: "#TBT 1960s The Black."
Fans were soon to respond to the tweet, posting memes to represent how flustered McKellen's shot had made them.
One wrote: "Wow. You were(are) a beautiful man."
Another said: "Now that’s some #smoulder right there!"
And one person replied: "Oh woah, is that you Sir Ian? Huh..you're as handsome now as you were back then! Have a great day!"
Ian McKellen recently remarked on the "pity" that Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will not be an explicitly gay character .
#TBT 1960s The Black pic.twitter.com/JY184cl8tC — Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) July 26, 2018
Dumbledore, who will be played by Jude Law, will not make any allusions to his sexuality in the film instalment.
Although the actor and LGBT+ rights advocate remarked that the decision is frustrating, he said he was unsurprised.
pic.twitter.com/P2Wt0kmXZM — CherikMcBender.Nation (@CherikMcBender1) July 26, 2018
"Isn’t he?" McKellen responded to the news in an interview with Time Out .
"That’s a pity. Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world," McKellen told the publication .
"Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don’t exist. “Gods and Monsters” [1998], I think, was the beginning of Hollywood admitting that there were gay people knocking around, even though half of Hollywood is gay,’" he added.
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(Getty)[/caption]
In spite of the film's disappointing decision - after all, J.K. Rowling announced the professor's sexuality back in 2007 - McKellen said the industry is looking up for young openly LGBT+ actors.
"Young actors in London now have all been out for years. That’s the future," he told the publication.
"When I go to schools to talk about gay rights, the kids can’t believe it. It’s not an issue for them," he added.
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Jude Law as Dumbledore (Warner Bros)[/caption]
Director David Yates attempted to justify the decision to straightwash Dumbledore back in January.
He said that fans are already "aware" of Dumbledore's relationship with Grindelwald.
“But I think all the fans are aware of that,” Yates continued, speaking to Entertainment Weekly .
“He had a very intense relationship with Grindelwald when they were young men. They fell in love with each other’s ideas, and ideology, and each other.”
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(Getty/Warner Brothers)[/caption]
LGBT representation in major studio releases decreased significantly in 2017 .
According to the research, in 2017 only 14 major studio releases had LGBTQ characters, making up only 12.8 percent of films.
This is a 5.6 percent decrease within one year, as LGBT characters were included in 18.4 percent of major films released in 2016.
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