It’s hard to believe but even the great actor Sir Ian McKellen was young once, and the actor has shared the best picture for Throwback Thursday to prove it.

Before McKellen gained global fame for taking on the roles of Magneto in the original X-Men trilogy and Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings and later the Hobbit films, he was best-known for his work as a stalwart of the Royal Shakespeare Company. McKellen still takes on roles in Shakespearian productions and gives the characters created by the English poet a new life.

For his latest, he’ll be hitting the stage in the titular role of King Lear in a production to be shown at the Chichester Theatre. To mark the occasion, the actor shared this awesome pic of him posing outside said theatre in 1965. It reminds you of how far he’s come in a career spanning over 50 years.