Sir Ian McKellen, who plays historian Sir Leigh Teabing in “The Da Vinci Code,” is not staying out of the fray that swirls around the film.

Unlike director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks, who have publically reiterated the line that the film is entirely a work of fiction, McKellen mischeviously hinted that he was convinced by Dan Brown’s argument that Mary Magdalene married Jesus and bore his child. McKellen, who is gay, told The Independent newspaper, “When I read the book I believed it entirely. When I put the book down I thought what a load of potential codswallop. But I’m very happy to believe that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. I know that the Catholic Church has problems with gay people. I thought that would be absolute proof Jesus was not gay.”

McKellen, who was speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, also accused the popular culture of “snobbery” because it has exploded with far more criticism of the film than it did of the book. He asked, “Is that because readers can be trusted to have minds whereas people who go to see movies are the mindless masses that need to be protected?”