Prepare to see Sir Ian McKellen like you’ve never seen him before.
The acclaimed English actor — best known for his roles in the “The Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men” films, as well as his extensive theater work — is starring in a sitcom, making its US premiere this Sunday (10:30 p.m.) on PBS.
In “Vicious,” the 75-year-old McKellen plays Freddie, an underemployed actor who has lived with his flamboyant partner Stuart (Derek Jacobi) in a small London flat for nearly 50 years.
“I had never done a sitcom and it’s a form of dramatic storytelling. I thought that would be intriguing, the challenge of a live audience,” McKellen tells The Post.
“I had my doubts about playing an old actor, and a gay one at that — a bit too close to home. A group of us got together to read the scripts and we all laughed so much, I didn’t really have a choice.”
McKellen also jumped at the chance to star opposite Jacobi, whom he met 50 years ago when they acted in undergraduate productions at the University of Cambridge. But besides McKellen directing him once, the two never worked together again until “Vicious.”
As the farcical sitcom’s title suggests, Freddie and Stuart are constantly at each other’s throats and cracking snide remarks — about the other’s age, looks or mother — though they ultimately love each other. Their best friend Violet (Frances de la Tour) and new upstairs neighbor Ash (Iwan Rheon, who plays Ramsay Bolton on “Game of Thrones”) are frequently dropping by. Many of the plots revolve around Freddie’s shameless flirting with the young, straight Ash or his big ego about his meager acting resume (he was voted 10th most popular villain on “Doctor Who”).
“He’s had very little work, but he is pompous about that. He builds around his career a patina of success,” McKellen says.
Though the Oscar nominee is far more accomplished than his character, he says he could still relate to the struggles of an actor. “I didn’t have to imagine that, I knew what it felt like.”
Despite being a British production (England’s ITV has already ordered a second, six-episode season), “Vicious” was written by an American — Gary Janetti, a former showrunner on “Will & Grace” from New York City (Queens). As such, the show recalls classic American sitcoms with its multicamera format and bickering dialogue reminiscent of the egotistical Frasier and fussy Niles on “Frasier.”
And while gay characters on TV are far more common today than when “Will & Grace” premiered, McKellen does see significance in applying the sitcom format to two main characters who are not only gay, but old.
“Old is interesting. These are two old men with all the frailties of age,” he says. “It is a sign that we’ve moved on that we treat two old gay guys the way we treat other eccentrics.
“We’re not laughing at them so much as with them.”