Series 2 - Ian McKellen

Episode 11
You are aware that I am not really a wizard.
Episode no.	11
Original airdate	12 October 2006
Written by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Directed by	Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant
Guest stars	Ian McKellen Germaine Greer Mark Kermode

The fifth episode of the second series of Extras.

Plot

It's like Deliverance in here.

Andy is tired of getting torn apart by critics for his sitcom, When The Whistle Blows, so he asks Darren to get him a role in a play to increase his credibility. On the set of his sitcom one of Andy’s mates from school, Steve Sherwood, drops by to see him. Steve teases Andy about how everyone used to think he was gay at school. Darren also comes by to tell Andy that he got him a meeting with Ian McKellen who is directing a play. Darren is impressed with Steve after he sees him ask a woman out on a date. With some advice from Steve, Darren asks Maggie out and she accepts. Darren and Steve also pressure Andy into asking a woman out by calling him gay, but he ends up embarrassing himself. Later, Andy meets with Ian McKellen about the play and he introduces him to his character’s love interest, a man named Fran. Andy immediately goes to his agent and yells at him for getting him a gay play, but he reluctantly agrees to do it anyways. On opening night, Andy is surprised to see that Steve and some of his other mates from school have come to see the play. He tries to encourage them to leave; he is worried because Steve already thinks he’s gay. McKellen also surprises Andy by telling him he is adding a kiss between him and Fran in the play. Meanwhile, Maggie goes over to Darren’s flat for a date. All is going well until Darren has a toilet mishap and Maggie manages to sneak away. During the play, Fran tries to kiss Andy causing Andy to break character to avoid kissing him back, effectively ending the play’s run and giving the critics more negative things to write about him.

Quotes

• Darren: Maggie, hello. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been watching you secretly without you knowing and I’d be very keen to spend the night with you… if you enjoy it as much as I know I will… and um, happy to pay for it as well.
• McKellen: Peter Jackson comes from New Zealand, says to me, “Sir Ian, I want you to be Gandalf the wizard.” And I say to him, “You are aware that I am not really a wizard,” and he said, “Yes, I am aware of that. What I want you to do is use your acting skills to portray the wizard for the duration of the film.” So I said, “Okay.” And then I said to myself, “Hmm, how would I do that?” And this is what I did: I imagined what it would be like to be a wizard, and then I pretended and acted in that way on the day… And how did I know what to say? The words were written down for me in a script. How did I know where to stand? People told me. If we were to draw a graph of my process, of my method, it would be something like this: “Sir Ian, Sir Ian, Sir Ian. Action. WIZARD! YOU SHALL NOT PASS! Cut! Sir Ian, Sir Ian, Sir Ian.”
• McKellen: How will you know what to say? Well the words will be in the script...and you will learn the words! You would not have the script on the night and that goes for everybody, there will be no scripts on the night! You learn the words!
• Andy: Moron
  Darren: You talking to me?
  Andy: Yeah, I'm talking to you! Why didn’t you tell me it was a gay play?
  Darren: What play?
  Andy: The play I'm in, the play that you got me, A Month of Summers, it's a gay play. I've got to play a gay, with another gay. Acting all gay. All through the play... it's so gay.
• Bunny: Guess who?!
  Andy: Bunny. Christ.
  Bunny: I couldn’t miss my little genie’s first grown up play. Oh, you do hang around with all the Gucci boys, don’t you? Hello, I’m Bunny.
  Andy: How’s the wife?
  Bunny: Oh, gone. I was living a lie and she knew it, but now I’m able to go out and enjoy some serious cock guilt free. Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy.

Trivia

• Andy’s love interest in the play, A Month of Summers, is played by Rufus Wright, one of Steve’s posh mates. He is a frequent contributor to The Steve Show on BBC 6Music.

Gallery

• 

  Andy embarrasses himself.

• 

  WIZARD! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

• 

  George, can you get us some Vaseline?

• 

  Darren and Maggie's date.

• For more images go to: Gallery:Extras - Series 2 Episode 5

External links

• HBO episode guide: "Ian McKellen"