‘The Lord of the Rings’ fame Sir Ian McKellen has said that he is “so happy” for his ‘X-Men’ co-actor Elliot Page, who came out as transgender in December last year.

In an interview with Attitude, the 81-year-old veteran actor added that he felt “so disappointed” with himself for not recognising the struggles the then-teenage actor must have been going through with their identity when they worked together.

McKellen also spoke about the benefits of being honest with your true self.

“You get better in terms of relationships, friends of all sorts, family, if you’re lucky,” he added.

“And in my case, I think in every case, your acting is bound to change and improve,” McKellen said.

Also read: ‘Shine on sweet’: Elliot Page’s wife ‘proud’ as ‘Juno’ star comes out as transgender

Recalling a day on the sets of film ‘X-Men’, where Page was his co-actor, McKellen said that he encouraged Page to “speak up” when they were delivering dialogues quietly.

“So, I said, ‘Look, if you can’t speak up, would you mind when you’re finished speaking, just dropping your hand so I know when you’ve finished speaking?’ And then they came out [as gay] years later and suddenly you couldn’t stop them talking. You heard everything,” he said.

“And now…they’re Elliot. And I’m so happy for Elliot. And so disappointed in myself that I didn’t detect what their difficulty was with communicating,” he added.

Page announced they were transgender in December 2020 on their social media accounts.

“I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot,” they wrote.