The Hobbit actor Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf, appeared on Anderson Cooper’s self-titled daytime talk show yesterday alongside co-star Martin Freeman.

Cooper and McKellen, both openly gay, spoke on the progress of gay rights in the world today as well as coming out.

For McKellen, there was no negative to coming out. “My film career took off. I never met a gay person who regrets coming out,” he said to applause from the audience. “You’re more at ease with your loved ones, your family, your extending families, your friends, your employers, your employees, everyone’s happy because they know where you are. Honesty is the best policy.”

“The ease at with which people accept gay people has changed enormously” in the United States and United Kingdom, McKellen noted.

The actor also shared an interesting tidbit from his past: “I was making love until I was about 30 with my live-in boyfriend, and we were breaking the law every time we had sex. Breaking the law. We had friends who were put in prison for it.”

Watch their conversation below:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened in theaters at midnight Friday. In the past week we’ve published our review, and this Character Guide to make sure you’re set to return to Middle Earth.

We admire McKellen and Cooper’s conversation on the topic! Anderson’s daytime talk show will be canceled after this season, but we highly recommend giving it a watch. It’s a lighter Anderson Cooper compared to his news program on CNN.