 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 . 
