Interview from AICN, December 17 ,2003 : "Well, I think why I like Gandalf the Grey more is that he's the guy I’d like to spend an evening with. He’s more sociable, isn't he ? He likes a drink, and a smoke, and a chat, and he's a rather lazy man; he's not quite focused on the job at hand. He's taking time off. He likes holidays. Who'd want to spend an evening with the commander ? The driven man sent back to finish the job, knowing that the end is nigh, and that when the job is over, that's the end of Gandalf forever more. That's the sense in which he's driven. So, a much less comfortable person to be with. And as for the third film as opposed to the other two, I wasn't aware of the third film. I just knew that the break came for me between the Grey and the White. What part of the White was in which bit of the film perhaps wasn't even settled in Peter Jackson's mind, because obviously things have been changed and moved and cut and rearranged. And the sense of the emotional tug between Gandalf choosing Frodo and Frodo's acceptance of the responsibility was added really the last time we went back to New Zealand to film, which was in June and July. They wanted to beef up and strengthen that relationship."

Times Online, February 17, 2003 : "The loudest, deepest voice I’ve ever heard said “Gandalf !” and I scampered to the front and 1,100 people leapt out of their seats and cheered and waved and shrieked. It didn’t prove anything except that they love Gandalf and Lord of the Rings, but to be at the receiving end! The affection !"

Interview from Sci-Fi Weekly : "I had the read The Hobbit, which started Tolkien off on this great adventure writing about Middle-earth. I didn't know about Lord of the Rings, though. Lord of the Rings didn't impinge upon me at all. I was aware of it, but I didn't at all know the impact it had on people to the extent like Christopher Lee, who reads the novels every year. They passed me by; I was too busy acting."

Q : "Have you since read the books ?"
Ian Mc Kellen : "Oh, yes. They even became our bible. There was even a pocket in Gandalf's costume to carry it. I went through the book and underlined everything that was said about Gandalf, by Tolkien or by the other characters or by himself—and tried to incorporate as much of that as was appropriate. I got a lot of correspondence through my Web site from fans, and one of them said, "Would you make sure that Gandalf wears boots ? I don't want to see him in any pointed shoes." They must have been referring to some illustration from one of the book illustrations. So I took that idea to the designer, and so Gandalf got to wear boots."