Ian McKellen: Patrick Stewart And I Are Basically 'The Same Actor'

This Is The Most Epic Bromance Ever

They've famously played archenemies as "X-Men," but Sirs Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are anything but rivals in real life.

In a candid interview with CBS News' Lesley Stahl, the two thespians, who have shared the stage and the big screen on several occasions, opened up about their epic bromance -- revealing just how deeply they love and respect one another.

"We are the same actor, really. We've had the same career, really," McKellen told Stahl. "So we're peers. We're equals. We're not rivals."

(Watch McKellen teasing Stewart about his roots in the CBS clip above.)

The two friends are so close, in fact, that McKellen said that he once cried backstage at the thought of saying goodbye to Stewart, who starred with him in the 2009 London stage production of "Waiting for Godot."

"The curtain came down on our last performance, and he went into the wings and sat on some stone steps and sobbed, heartbroken that it was over," Stewart told Stahl, remembering the moving moment.

"Yes, I was heartbroken," responded McKellen. "And then we were going to say goodbye to each other. You were going off to do other things and I just felt I would never be as happy again."

This isn't the first time that McKellen has spoken of his affection for his bestie.

"We’re so close, we’re the same person really," the 74-year-old "Lord Of The Rings" star told Indie London in an earlier interview.

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