Sir Ian McKellen "lives within his means".
The 75-year-old actor – best known for playing Magneto in the ‘X-Men’ franchise and Gandalf in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies – insists he has always been careful with money and it wasn’t until he entered his twilight years he began living comfortably with plenty of money in the bank.
He said: "Money is a factor in my life but it’s not a major factor. I’ve never had to worry about it – I learnt very early on to pay my taxes on time and live within my means, which has served me well.
"And I haven’t had to bring up a family and I don’t have dependents.
"I haven’t earned an awful lot of money until quite recently. At the same time, I’ve never had to do a job for the money so I’ve been very lucky."
The legendary screen star says many actors struggle financially but continue pursuing their career of choice because of passion.
He explained to Radio Times magazine: "Most actors are not rich – they are very poor indeed. What keeps them going is that they just love the job. I know actors who have had to turn down good roles because they just don’t pay enough. It’s hard.
"The one thing you can ask, I think, is that actors get paid a living wage."
Ian McKellen is careful with cash
