Sir Ian McKellen Signed On For A Teen’s Queer Film And His Reason Is Deeply Personal
Imagine being fourteen years old, working on your very first film, and getting Sir Ian McKellen onboard. Sounds like a dream, right? For young filmmaker Jacob Franklin, that dream became a reality when the screen legend agreed to star in his ambitious project, Dragged Through Time.
An Unexpected Text From A Legend
So, how does a teenager snag a knight of the realm for their debut movie? Jacob, based in Windsor, UK, reached out to McKellen through Scott Handy, the director of drama at the prestigious Eton College. Jacob admitted to PinkNews they weren’t holding their breath for a reply.
But then, the unexpected happened. “He texts us back and says in his words, not mine, that he’s ‘really inspired by this and would love to come and do this’,” Jacob shared. Naturally, the answer was a resounding yes.
Working with an actor famous for roles like Gandalf and Magneto might seem intimidating, but Jacob found the experience refreshingly normal. He told PinkNews, “It didn’t feel like a professional actor was sitting in the room with me.”
Whether he’s Magneto or Gandalf, nobody can make magical powers more convincing than Ian McKellen pic.twitter.com/z70O8TcLrX
— Unique Movie Moments 🐬 (@uniquemoviemom) April 4, 2025
Why Sir Ian Said Yes
McKellen’s role in Dragged Through Time is Great Uncle Peter, a character inspired by LGBTQIA+ individuals from the 70s and 80s – someone rumoured to be gay but never confirmed. The film itself takes a sweeping look at a thousand years of queer history, connecting the past to the present.
What truly drew McKellen to the project, however, was something deeply personal. In a video shared online, Sir Ian reflected on his own teenage years, expressing regret over not being able to confide in his parents about his sexuality. “I wasn’t close enough to my parents to talk to them about what I knew of myself, that I was gay,” McKellen said. “The idea that at 14, I could have plucked up the courage to have a conversation with them about something so personal… So I never told either of my parents that their only son was gay.”
Seeing Jacob tackle such important themes at a young age clearly struck a chord. “So to see him and this situation makes me think, ‘Oh perhaps I could have done this if I’d been a bit braver or the world had been a bit different’,” McKellen added. At DNA, we reckon that kind of honesty and support across generations is incredibly powerful.
Bringing Queer History To Life
Dragged Through Time isn’t just a star vehicle; it’s a passion project driven by young talent. Jacob highlighted the collaborative effort involved. “We’re bringing a lot of skills together. We’re making our music, we’re mostly making our costumes and designing it all,” he explained to PinkNews, mentioning his best friend working on the score and another collaborator handling costumes. He described the whole process as an “empowering but also shocking experience, quite overwhelming.”
The film was produced by Notice Productions, a youth drama collective from Windsor committed to tackling significant subjects. Their hard work culminated when Dragged Through Time premiered last July at the first-ever Windsor and Eton Pride, screening in the picturesque Alexandra Gardens.
It’s proof that powerful stories can come from anywhere, especially when fuelled by young passion and supported by legends like Sir Ian McKellen.
