Coming out, all of us feel, removes the weight of guilt which society, much less than it used to, hangs round the neck of gay people. I pity those who feel unable to tell the truth about such a central characteristic as their sexuality. I particularly liked the scene in X-Men2 when the young pupil of Xavier's school comes out to his mother, who asks: "Have you always known you were a mutant, dear?"If you had stayed in the closet, what effect do you think it would have had on your life? Julia Kane, by e-mailI shudder at the thought. The UK is about five per cent of the world market for movies.X-Men. Why? Patricia Butler, by e-mailIf you know the comics on which they are based, you shouldn't need to ask.

Marvel Comics say that they appeal most to young blacks, young Jews and young gays, who are too often disaffected with society. He lives in London. Who would you most like to get into an on-screen clinch with? Iain Sands, EdinburghMeryl Streep, Judi Dench, Penelope Wilton - three of the actors whom I would most like to work with again at close quarters. But also Robert Downey Jr, Marton Csokas and Hugh Jackman, for much the same reason.Was Quentin Tarantino right to criticise British actors for running away to Hollywood? Karen Brown, St AlbansNot in my own case! If there is a collective blame for the decline in a homegrown film industry, it would more fairly rest on financiers and producers rather than on the actors like me who would love to live at home and film in the UK. Mr Tarantino is a little disingenuous, however, in praising the success of Hollywood and Bollywood Each has a huge local market to satisfy. Since then, his film credits have included Magneto in X-Men and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy He was knighted in 1991 Two years previously he had come out as gay.

In 1996, after a 30-year career spent predominantly in the theatre, he earned a major film breakthrough in Richard III, based on a production at the National Theatre. He read English at Cambridge University and made his London acting debut in 1964, which led to an invitation from Laurence Olivier to join his new National Theatre Company. He established himself as a leading classical actor with his performances as Shakespeare's Richard II and Marlowe's Edward II in the late Sixties. Sir Ian McKellen was born in Burnley in 1939.