How Ian McKellen And Patrick Stewart's Bromance First Started

A good friend is hard to find, but if British actors Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen are any example, they can come from unlikely places. Both men are true-blue thespians. They're battle-hardened acting veterans of both the stage and the big screen. Most importantly, they are true friends.

However, they did not become friends at the time you might expect. Though both worked with each other before as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart admitted that he was "shy of him" at this time due to McKellen's more widespread reputation (via The Hollywood Reporter). The two would not truly connect until decades later.

Now, at the respective ages of 80 and 81, Stewart and McKellen act as if they've known each other for a lifetime. Yet the two didn't bond until after their Shakespearean days. Instead, they found friendship on the set of a Hollywood blockbuster, and one of the precursors to the modern superhero movie.

In an interview with Wired, Sir Patrick Stewart revealed how he and Sir Ian McKellen first met on the set of 2000's "X-Men." Despite playing a pair of lifelong adversaries — Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, respectively — they would actually grow close over the course of this project. It all started when the two began spending time together after being set up with adjoining trailers.

"When you're in one of those kinds of movies, you spend more time sitting in your trailer than you do in front of the camera," Stewart said. "So, Ian and I hung out together, drinking tea — and later in the afternoon, maybe something a little stronger — and we got to know one another."

By chance, the pair shared many qualities, and soon became very close. McKellen would even go on to marry Stewart to his current wife, Sunny Ozell, in 2013 (via USA Today). Now, over two decades after the duo first crossed paths, they still share a true friendship.