'I regret not coming out earlier': X-Men star Sir Ian McKellen, 76, says revealing he was gay at the age of 49 made him a better actor.

Sir Ian McKellen wishes he had come out earlier because it made him a better actor.

The 76-year-old star said that he had been using acting as a 'disguise' to hide his sexuality and that he was ashamed of who he was.

But when acting became about 'telling the truth', the X-Men actor decided he had to come out in 1988 at the age of 49.

He said: 'I regret and always shall that I didn't see the significance of coming out at a much earlier date because I think I would have been a different person and a happier one.'

Sir Ian, 76, went public amid the controversy over the Section 28 legislation which prevented local authorities from promoting homosexuality.

Since then the Oscar-nominated star of the Lord of the Rings has become a prominent activist for gay rights.

He told the Huffington Post: 'Self-confidence is the most important thing that anybody can have. You don't have that if part of you is ashamed or hiding something.

'I can reassure people who don't feel they're able to, the world will like you better because people like honesty and authenticity.'

Sir Ian said that his family didn't 'give a damn' about his sexuality and that he knew coming out was the right move.

He said: 

'I think up to that point, I had been using acting as a disguise - somewhere where I could express my emotions, and draw attention to myself in a way that I didn't particularly want to do in real life.

'Acting became not about disguise, but about telling the truth. And my emotions became much freer. I was able to act better as I think you are able to do any job. Everyone's better if they're being honest.' 

Sir Ian, who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies, said he was cautious about typecasting himself as a gay character after coming out because he finds heterosexuality 'far too interesting'.

The 76-year-old, who recently starred as an ageing Sherlock in Mr Holmes, said: 'I didn't turn myself into a queer actor, which I think a lot of people rather expected I ought to do or that was my new responsibility. 

'I find heterosexuality far too interesting a phenomenon to avoid! Macbeth isn't gay nor is Richard III, or King Lear. I didn't want to cut myself off from all those things.'