Sir Ian McKellen

But in this case, as they say, they wrote it for the two of us.

Yes, it was absolutely written for her, so I'm happy to accept that it was written for me.

But I can proudly say that I wrote one of the best jokes in the movie.

I'm not going to tell you what it is.

Yes, don't worry about that.

Is that something that you... Well, I've learned, not during the course of this film, during the course of a career, and when I started out,

You used to get the script of a play that had been done previously in the West End, and you'd be doing some paltry revival for two weeks in Coventry, and the script would be marked with asterisks.

And if there was one asterisk by a line, it meant that you were expected to get a laugh from the audience.

Two asterisks, a bigger laugh.

Three, a really big laugh.

for applause.

Okay.

Well, that's very daunting because the laugh line might be, hello, and you're baffled as to how on earth that could be funny.

Well, the truth of it is that truth is the heart of comedy.

Unless you're being absolutely real, you won't be funny.

And although there are techniques of comedy like a double take, you have to think a double take.

You can't just do it, otherwise it's not funny.

So I learned over a long period to be at ease with making people laugh.

And now I think that's the most enjoyable thing about acting, particularly in the theatre.

Well, you feel like you're a guest in his house, and it's filmed even inside his head.