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  "path": "/television/sir-ian-mckellen-shakespeare-stephen-colbert",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-05T17:16:16.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.advocate.com",
  "tags": [
    "Sir ian mckellen",
    "William shakespeare",
    "Sir Thomas Moore",
    "TheShed.org"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nSir Ian McKellen's appearance on _The Late Show with Stephen Colbert_ Wednesday night involved more than promoting his current works and discussing fan-favorite performances of his being soon reprised, such as Gandalf (from _The Lord of the Rings_ films) and Magneto (from the _X-Men_ movies and the upcoming _Avengers: Doomsday_).\n\nThe legendary actor of stage and screen was also asked to deliver a Shakespearean monologue that he originated/premiered as an actor — of _Sir Thomas Moore_ , Act II, Scene 4 — which centers on the story of a Tudor lawyer sentenced to death for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church in England.\n\nMcKellen first originated this role in the 1970s, though it was written by Shakespeare c. 1593, and delivered it as a powerful monologue that, sadly, still resonates just as loudly in February 2026.\n\nWatch the _Sir Thomas Moore_ monologue below, and follow along its transcript, in full, following the video.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"Grant them removed, and grant that this your noise\nHath chid down all the majesty of England;\nImagine that you see the wretched strangers,\nTheir babies at their backs with their poor luggage,\nPlodding to the ports and coasts for transportation,\nAnd that you sit as kings in your desires,\nAuthority quite silenced by your brawl,\nAnd you in rough of your opinions clothed;\n\nWhat had you got? I'll tell you: you had taught\nHow insolence and strong hand should prevail,\nHow order should be quelled; and by this pattern\nNot one of you should live an aged man,\nFor other ruffians, as their fancies wrought,\nWith self same hand, self reasons, and self right,\nWould shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes\nWould feed on one another.\n\nO, desperate as you are,\nWash your foul minds with tears, and those same hands,\nThat you like rebels lift against the peace,\nLift up for peace, and your unreverent knees,\nMake them your feet to kneel to be forgiven!\n\nYou'll put down strangers,\nKill them, cut their throats, possess their houses,\nAnd lead the majesty of law in liom,\nTo slip him like a hound. Say now the king\n(As he is clement, if th' offender mourn)\nShould so much come to short of your great trespass\nAs but to banish you, whether would you go?\n\nWhat country, by the nature of your error,\nShould give you harbor? go you to France or Flanders,\nTo any German province, to Spain or Portugal,\nNay, any where that not adheres to England,—\n\nWhy, you must needs be strangers: Would you be pleased\nTo find a nation of such barbarous temper,\nThat, breaking out in hideous violence,\nWould not afford you an abode on earth,\nWhet their detested knives against your throats,\nSpurn you like dogs, and like as if that God\n\nOwed not nor made not you, nor that the claimants\nWere not all appropriate to your comforts,\nBut chartered unto them, what would you think\nTo be thus used? this is the strangers case;\nAnd this your mountainish inhumanity.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAs expected, the crowd roared with applause, and _The Late Show_ host Stephen Colbert thanked McKellen for such generosity and inspiration during a much-needed time.\n\n**_The Ark_ , starring Ian McKellen, is now playing at The Shed in New York City. For tickets and more information, visit TheShed.org.**",
  "title": "Ian McKellen recites Shakespeare to slam 'mountainous inhumanity' in U.S."
}