Head to headIan McKellen against Christopher Lee Both careers by TMDB ratingIan McKellenChristopher Lee
Tale of the tape as an actor
Ian McKellen vs Christopher Lee
Ian McKellen averages 6.52 across 43 rated films as an actor, ahead of Christopher Lee at 6.10.
- 52 (43 rated)
- Films acted
- 173 (130 rated)
- ◀6.52
- Average
- 6.10
- ◀6.69
- Weighted
- 6.24
- ◀The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 8.5
- Best film
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 8.4
- ◀7.89, 2000 to 2003
- Peak five
- 7.51, 1998 to 2002
- 5 films
- Longest 7+ run
- 5 films
- 5.73 (−0.79)
- Current form
- 6.73 (+0.63)▶
- ◀246K
- TMDB votes
- 221K
- 1969 to 2026
- Career
- 1948 to 2024
- ◀0 wins, 2 noms
- Oscars
- None
- ◀$11.4B
- Box office
- $8.63B
Rows won
7 to 1
Ian McKellen ahead
Films together
5
averaging 7.54
Dot size shows audience votes. Films below the source vote floor sit on the baseline.
 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 2001 | 8.4 | as Gandalf | as Saruman |
 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | 2002 | 8.4 | as Gandalf | as Saruman |
 The Golden Compass | 2007 | 6.1 | as Iorek Byrnison (voice) | as First High Councilor |
 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 2012 | 7.4 | as Gandalf the Grey | as Saruman the White |
 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | 2014 | 7.3 | as Gandalf the Grey | as Saruman the White |