Ian McKellen said that he felt very comfortable playing the role of James Whale. For, like Whale, McKellan is a homosexual British actor who spent his early career in the theater. The ending scene where Clay Boone lurches around his alley like Frankenstein's monster was suggested to director Bill Condon by Brendan Fraser. The film had to be shot in only 21 days. There are five original James Whale drawings in this film. As of 2007, one of only two films since the advent of the Best ...[Read Story ]