Ian McKellen doubts 'Brokeback' effect for gay actors

BERLIN (AFP) - British actor and gay activist Ian McKellen accepted a Golden Bear lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival and said he was still a rare exception as an openly homosexual star. McKellen, 66, said that while the success of the Oscar-nominated gay cowboy movie "Brokeback Mountain" might open the door to more pictures on the subject of homosexuality, the industry had rigid ideas about leading men. "It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And even more difficult for a woman if she's lesbian. It's very distressing to me that that should be the case," he told a news conference. [More]