Troye Sivan reveals emotional reason he asked Ian McKellen to narrate 'Party' music video

Sivan explained that he sent McKellen a video describing their shared history and asking him to narrate the video

Troye Sivan has revealed the personal story behind recruiting Sir Ian McKellen to narrate his music video for Party, explaining that the Lord of the Rings star was someone he once considered coming out to when he was a teenager.

Speaking about the collaboration, Sivan recalled working with McKellen in a production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 2010, when he was 14 and approaching his 15th birthday. At the time, the Australian singer was preparing to come out as gay and found hope in being surrounded backstage by older queer people who had built successful lives while embracing their identities.

“I think the first person that I come out to in the world might be Sir Ian McKellen,” Sivan recalled thinking at the time. He wanted to ask the actor for advice but could not find the courage to approach him. The experience nevertheless stayed with him, and years later, he decided to reach out to McKellen for the voiceover.

Sivan explained that he sent McKellen a video describing their shared history and asking him to narrate the music video. Just two days later, he received a video message from the actor, dressed in full Gandalf costume, complete with a long beard. McKellen began the message speaking in the booming voice of his Lord of the Rings character before telling Sivan that he would be delighted to take part.

 

 

 

 

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The collaboration became even more memorable when McKellen used the Lord of the Rings production team and recording equipment in New Zealand to record the voiceover. Sivan said he subsequently contacted the production team to obtain the finished audio files.

McKellen is widely recognised for playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Beyond his celebrated acting career, he has also been a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, having publicly come out as gay in 1988.

The voiceover opens Sivan’s video for “Party”, released in September 2026 as the second single from his fourth studio album, She’s the Best, which arrived on October 9. Directed by Gordon von Steiner, the video features Sivan as a medieval knight and explores partying as a form of freedom and connection.

Sivan has explained that the video was partly inspired by the idea of queer generations passing knowledge and a sense of belonging to one another. By bringing McKellen into the project, he connected a formative memory from his adolescence with an artistic collaboration that celebrates queer culture and the spaces where people can feel free to express themselves.