Richard Burton (left) and Ian McShane (right), circa 1971 } Photo Credits: Getty Images

Have you ever been scrolling through social media and happened upon a headline that literally stopped you in your tracks?

That happened to us earlier today when we stumbled on The Guardian‘s interview with the legendary Ian McShane, which used this eye-catching quote from the actor as its headline:

“When I was about to get it on with Richard Burton, he said I reminded him of Elizabeth.”

Wait, what? Were McShane and Burton FWBs back in the day? And in what ways is McShane like Liz Taylor? We had to know more…

The wide-ranging interview with the star—best known these days for his role on HBO’s epic Western Deadwood and in the Keanu Reeves action franchise John Wick—starts by asking which of the “so-called serious” actors he’s worked with over the years was the funniest.

McShane’s initial answer is Oliver Reed, who he shared the screen with in the ’72 crime drama Sitting Target, but then he turns his attention to the late, great Richard Burton, his co-star in the ’71 British gangster flick Villain.

“Richard was terrific,” McShane recalls. “I think he was very underrated when we did Villain and I played his bisexual driver fixer, Wolfie.” Bisexual, you say? Could Villain a forgotten queer classic?

McShane continues: “There’s the infamous scene where we’re about to get it on and he looked at me and said: ‘I’m very glad you’re playing this part.’ I said: ‘Really, Richard?’ He said: ‘Yes, because you remind me of Elizabeth.’ I said: ‘Well, that’s nice.'”

Liz Taylor Ian McShane & Richard Burton in ‘Villain,’ Image Credit: MGM

Unfortunately, that’s where the story begins and ends. So, no, it doesn’t appear that McShane and Burton were hooking up in real-life—just on-camera, for a movie—and we have to admit The Guardian‘s misdirecting headline worked on us, hook, line, and sinker.

But can you blame us for falling for it? Though Burton was in high-profile relationships with women for most of his life—including, most infamously, his on-again, off-again marriage to Taylor—it’s been implied that he was perhaps queer, or at least dabbled in some experimentation.

In the unauthorized biography of Taylor, The Most Beautiful Woman In The World, author Ellis Amburn alleged that Burton had an affair with Sir Laurence Olivier—though the claims were denied by Burton’s family. But Burton himself once admitted to “trying” homosexuality and was quoted as suggesting that most actors were secretly gay, “we cover it up with drink.”

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So, perhaps it wasn’t out of the question that Burton might’ve actually tried to put the moves on McShane at one point in time, or at least thought about it, especially if his co-star—with his long, black hair—was giving him Liz Taylor vibes.

In any event, we’re not mad about The Guardian inadvertently putting the film Villain on our to-watch list. In it, Burton stars as Vic Dakin, a sadistic London gangster who rounds up a group of criminals to pull off a fateful robbery. McShane plays his associate Wolfie, who Dakin uses for sex, and the movie doesn’t really make a big deal about anyone’s sexuality, it’s just a natural facet of this world. (For the record, McShane has previously likened the characters’ relationship as “rather hostile” and “very S&M”).

And, while we’re here, there are plenty of other fun nuggets in the interview with McShane, who’s played a handful of queer roles over the years, including in crime dramas Sexy Beast and 44 Inch Chest.

For example, did you know that’s McShane’s voice at the beginning of Grace Jones’ 1985 dance hit “Slave To The Rhythm”?

Apparently, the song’s producer, Trevor Horn was on the hunt for the right voice, and was inspired to ask McShane after running into the actor at a fish-and-chips shop:

“I’ve known Trevor for ever,” McShane recalls. “I was having fish and chips back in 1985 with my wife in Notting Hill Gate. He was at another table and said: “Ian, how are you? What are you doing after dinner? Do you want to come over and do something?” So we went back in the studio, smoked a large spliff, and did the opening of ‘Slave To The Rhythm’.”

Or, how about this: McShane was the first male nude cover of the magazine Cosmopolitan in the U.K., posing with his wiener dog Moriarty!

“That was for the first ever [male nude] cover for Cosmopolitan,” the actors shares. “I think Burt Reynolds did the original American Cosmopolitan, then I did the first British one. We both had beards at the time. Thank God it was my dog Moriarty, the famous dachshund, covering my masculinity, substituted for a striped towel. Nowadays you’d probably rip the dog off and show it for all it’s worth.”

Wow, Ian McShane… kind of iconic no? What a life! We could listen to him tell wild stories about his career all day!

You can read the full Guardian interview here. Villain is rentable right now via Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

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