is teaming up with star Divina de Campo to share the titular role in the upcoming stop-motion animated film, . McKellen, in a production of , Parts One and Two on London’s West End, will voice Ginger Snap the Fox. De Campo, whose real name is Owen Farrow, will lend her vocals vocal to the character’s drag musical number.
The short film centers around a young protagonist, Sam, voiced by newcomer Aidan Gale. As Sam struggles with their identity, they are interrupted by a charismatic neighborhood fox. “Together, this unlikely duo embarks on a magical musical adventure where they discover surprising commonalities and learn to embrace the beauty of their differences,” a plot synopsis reads.
McKellan, who came out as gay in 1988, spoke about how the film resonates with his own journey. “When I was a kid growing up in South Lancashire just after the war, there were lots of things that preoccupied us, nobody really had time to wonder what it was like to be a little gay boy growing up at a time when that word hadn’t really been invented.” “We were ‘queers,'” he continued.
“We were looked at from other people’s points of view, and what’s important about growing up – as this film says – is to be yourself. Not in a selfish way but just in a life-affirming way. There was a total lack of that for me, as I suppose there is for trans people today.
And often the best way to get a message over is not to make a speech or write a book, but to make people smile. Lead.
