The Envelope: How much did Ian McKellen want to make ‘Mr. Holmes’? Enough to learn to work with bees

Ian McKellen has racked up so many awards he’s lost track. “We did count up and it was over 50, but it’s probably a few more now,” he said. (He has also been knighted as a Sir but prefers to be called Mr.) The esteemed actor recently stopped in Los Angeles on his way to the Mill Valley Film Festival where he was to receive yet another accolade — a lifetime achievement award, “which means congratulations on still being able to travel,” the 76-year-old joked. He was offered the same award by the Dubai Film Festival but had to decline with deep regrets because “it’s illegal to be gay in Dubai.”

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In the late summer release “Mr. Holmes,” McKellen plays the formidable Sherlock Holmes at a diminished 93, tending to his bees and trying to recall the case that pushed him into retirement some 30 years earlier. The film was directed by Bill Condon, as was 1998’s “Gods and Monsters,” which earned McKellen an Oscar nomination. He and Condon have been good friends ever since. “Mr. Holmes,” which opened in July, stirred up its own awards buzz and was still in theaters in October when he chatted with The Envelope.

This little indie film’s got legs.

I know! I always hoped, suspected, that the multitude of people interested in Sherlock Holmes might want to see this version, but judging from reactions of people who talk to me, actually it’s not Sherlock Holmes that they ended up being interested in but a man who reminds them of their father when they were getting older, as indeed it reminded me of my stepmother, who held on until she was 100. Her decrepitude was sad to see, and infuriated her. But it ends up sort of being an optimistic film at a very human level. “Never too late” I suppose is the message.

He sorts out his past, and in doing that, he becomes a different person and he can sort out the present. Lovely. The thought of spending an evening with Sherlock Holmes, even if there were drugs on offer, would just be [he shudders] — you’d be made to feel so inadequate. But by the end of this film, there he is holding hands with his housekeeper [played by Laura Linney], and a sweetness comes through.

In another surprising moment, Holmes even defends her. He chastises her son Roger for putting down her lack of education.

He sees himself in the boy. And the boy learns as a result. I loved doing that scene.

Did Bill Condon call you first, or send the script?

He called me. I think his line was, “I’ve found it.” Because whenever I see him I say, “Well, Bill, where is it?” And there was nothing in the “Twilight” movies for me. And probably I said, “When do we start?” before I’d even read it. Bill’s taste is immaculate. He never puts anybody he employs at a disadvantage; he’s just there to support.

You mentioned your stepmother’s experience. Did you do any other research to prepare for the role?

Very early on as an actor I learned to trust the material. I assume the writer’s done the research, and the director, and everybody involved, long before the actors are approached. It’s their project, and I’m the hired help, really. I have to deliver. I have to pass their material through my imagination and my body, and it’s got to come out the other side as believable for the camera or the theater audience. With this script, the work has already been done.

As a beekeeper, Holmes is keenly observant but aloof, as he is with people.

I said to Bill: “To work with you, thank you, with Laura Linney, thank you, thank you, so many of my good friends came in to help out, lovely, but I am not working with bees.” He said, “You have to.” I said, “No, you can put them in later, CGI.” He said, “Ian, it’s an independent movie, there’s no CGI.” So I went on to bee school and a man taught me how to talk to them, actually, and smoke them and calm them down and not get in their way. If you do that, the bees aren’t interested. They’ve got very short lives and they have a lot of work to do.

They’re smarter than we are.

Oh, I think they are. I could tell you things about bees you wouldn’t believe. And nobody got stung.

Next up is “Beauty and the Beast” [also directed by Condon]. Did Bill call you again?

I think it was reverse. I said, “What am I playing in ‘Beauty and the Beast?’” He said, “Well, I don’t have any big parts.” I said, “Good, I don’t want a big part.” So I go and I’m on the same set with Audra McDonald, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Dan Stevens, Emma Watson, Ewan McGregor, and we’re all dancing and we’ve all got posh clothes on, and lots of makeup, and we all sing. Bliss.

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