In the 1970s and 1980s McKellen became a well-known figure in British theatre, performing frequently at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, where he played several leading Shakespearean roles, including the title role in "Macbeth" (which he had first played for Trevor Nunn in a "gripping...out of the ordinary" production, with Judi Dench, at Stratford in 1976), and Iago in "Othello", in award-winning productions directed by Nunn. Both of these productions were adapted into television films, also directed by Nunn.