Ian McKellen revealed at a recent film festival in Rome (via The Guardian) that he channeled his fury for Donald Trump during an action scene in “Avengers: Doomsday,” in which the 87-year-old actor returns as his iconic “X-Men” villain Magneto. The film’s directors, the Russo Brothers, instructed McKellen “to look more furious” during one scene where Magneto wreaks havoc with his powers.
“[They told me to] make it look as if you hate what you’re destroying,” McKellen said. “So I stood there and I shouted: ‘Mar-a-Lago!’”
Mar-a-Lago is a resort in Palm Beach, Fla., that Trump has owned since 1985. He regularly visits the property and has even used it to hold meetings with international leaders during his presidencies. McKellen’s dig at Trump earned laughs from the audience in attendance at the Cinema in Piazza festival, a series of open-air screenings and Q&As that are free to the public.
McKellen has been critical of Trump in the past. During Trump’s first presidency in 2017, the “X-Men” and “Lord of the Rings” actor criticized the president for failing to protect LGBTQ+ rights. The White House failed to acknowledge Pride Month at the time and rolled back the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, which many argued would leave LGBTQ+ employees vulnerable to discrimination, prompting McKellen to tell Variety: “It’s appalling and quite unnecessary and very un-American. The gay rights movement began in America. It began in San Francisco, it began in Stonewall, the city where Donald Trump was born and thrived.”
“I can’t follow Mr. Trump,” McKellen added at the time. “I don’t always understand what he says and when I do, I have to admit later that I got it wrong because he changed his mind or changed his mind about what he said. He’s a very bad communicator, at least to me. Get more straightforward, Donald. And then we can take you seriously.”
