Quite low down in the list is "How much am I going to be paid?"... my main feeling about money is that I don`t want to feel as though I`m being taken advantage of... The other actors they asked to play Gandalf wouldn`t go to New Zealand on that money for that length of time. I thought it would be a bit of an adventure... I`m an eccentric actor, and there`s a lot of us around.

I often thought my gravestone would say, 'Here lies Gandalf. He came out,'

I tend to discourage people from calling me 'Sir Ian,' because I don't like being separated out from the rest of the population. Of course, it can be useful if you're writing an official letter, like trying to get a visa or something passed through Parliament. They're impressed by these things.

I suspect the base that I'm working from is not particularly one of inquiry, but of memory of what I did last time.

Most of the time when you do a job, a play or a film, you're wondering, "Will there be an audience?"

Splendid architecture, the love of your life, an old friend... they can all go drifting by unseen if youre not careful.

Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the most difficult attributes to act.