McAvoy was raised in Drumchapel, Glasgow, by his grandparents
after his father, also called James and a roofer by trade, abandoned his
mother when James Jr. was 7...
He went to St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, where he did well enough and started "a little school band with a couple of mates".
McAvoy toyed with the idea of the Catholic priesthood as a child but when he was 16, a visit to the school by actor David Hayman sparked an interest in acting. Hayman offered him a part in his film The Near Room (1995) but despite enjoying the experience McAvoy didn't seriously consider acting as a career, though he did continue to act as a member of PACE Youth Theatre. He applied instead to the Royal Navy and had already been accepted when he was also offered a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
He took the place at RSAMD
and when he graduated in 2000, he moved to London. He'd already made a
couple of TV appearances by this time and continued to get a steady
stream of TV and movie work until he came to British public attention in
2004 playing Steve McBride in the successful UK TV series Shameless (2004) and then to the rest of the world in 2005 as Mr Tumnus in Disney's adaptation of 'C. S. Lewis''s Las crónicas de Narnia: El león, la bruja y el armario (2005).
Since then he and his easy facility with accents (no, wait, what? he's Scottish?) have been much in demand.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: IMDb Editors
Spouse
He went to St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, where he did well enough and started "a little school band with a couple of mates".
McAvoy toyed with the idea of the Catholic priesthood as a child but when he was 16, a visit to the school by actor David Hayman sparked an interest in acting. Hayman offered him a part in his film The Near Room (1995) but despite enjoying the experience McAvoy didn't seriously consider acting as a career, though he did continue to act as a member of PACE Youth Theatre. He applied instead to the Royal Navy and had already been accepted when he was also offered a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Since then he and his easy facility with accents (no, wait, what? he's Scottish?) have been much in demand.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: IMDb Editors
| Anne-Marie Duff | (11 November 2006 - present) (1 child) |
Trade Mark
Blue eyes
Wavy hair
Scottish accent
Trivia
Trained at Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
McAvoy and Jessica Brooks were the first actors to tackle the complex roles Leto II & his twin sister Ghanima Atreides, the strange prescient Hijos de Dune (2003) based on Frank Herbert's
novel of the same name. Although Leto and Ghanima were only nine years
old in the novel, their ages were bumped up about seven years, making
them about sixteen for the Sci-Fi Channel's miniseries in March 2003.
His younger sister is Joy McAvoy, a singer in the Scottish girl group Streetside.
His parents divorced when he was seven.
As a child, he wanted to become a missionary.
After growing up in Glasgow, he moved to London at the age of 20.
Before he went into acting, he wanted to join the Navy.
While filming Las crónicas de Narnia: El león, la bruja y el armario (2005), Georgie Henley
never saw McAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before filming their scenes
together. Henley's scared reaction upon seeing McAvoy is genuine
surprise.
Former roommate of Jesse Spencer when they were both living in London.
Fan of Celtic Football Club.
Joe Wright considered him for a role in his Orgullo y prejuicio (2005). Both director and actor refused to name the part.
Born to James McAvoy, a builder, and his then wife Elizabeth Johnstone, a psychiatric nurse.
Attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow. Also attended by Tom Mannion.
Enjoys science fiction, including La conquista del espacio (1966) and the new Galáctica, estrella de combate (2004).
Was ranked #18 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. (2008).
Chosen as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive for 2007.
Worked out to improve his physique for the action scenes in Wanted - Se busca (2008). However he suffered several injuries during shooting, including a twisted ankle and an injured knee.
Said the script for Expiación. Más allá de la pasión (2007) was the best he had ever read.
He and his wife, Anne-Marie Duff, are expecting their first child [January 26, 2010].
Is good friends with actors Tom Ellis and Benedict Cumberbatch.
His favorite director is Ken Loach.
Was inspired to become an actor after meeting actor/director David Hayman.
Became a father for the 1st time at age 31 when his wife Anne-Marie Duff gave birth to their son Brendan Duff McAvoy on 5 June 2010.
His fans refer to themselves as "McAvoyeurs".
Has a younger half-brother named Donald.
Has said he is "desperately allergic" to horses and suffered terribly while shooting scenes for 'The Conspirator'.
Former member of Pace Youth Theatre. Other members included Barry Arthur McKay, Shauna MacDonald, Paolo Nutini, Martin Quinn and Gordon McCorkell.
Nominated for the Olivier Awards as Best Actor for his performance in "Macbeth" (2013).
At the London premiere of Danny Boyle's film Trance
(2013) in March 2013, McAvoy apologised to reporter Sophie van Brugen
when he accidentally spat on her during a red carpet interview.
Personal Quotes
We're in a horrible, repugnant place now where kids are told it's
their right and due to be hugely famous. Not good at their job, not good
at anything, just hugely famous. This is not sane. Little girls think
they'll be famous if they have vast breast implants and might as well
die if they don't.
Where it gets difficult is when you get two or three jobs back to
back where you're playing leads and doing 13, 14 hours a day, six days a
week, and you suddenly think, hang on a minute, how can you have a life
like this? Do I work to live or live to work? How can I work properly
with no life to inform the work?
I'm 5 foot 7, and I've got pasty white skin. I don't think I'm
ugly, don't get me wrong, but I'm not your classic lead man, Brad Pitt guy.
[Talking about Andrew McCarthy and why he inspired him to be an actor] Yeah, St. Elmo, punto de encuentro
(1985) is probably the one that I love him in the most. He was really
vulnerable, really open, I think. And he had floppy hair, kind of bad
hair, and I had really bad hair for quite a long time when I was a kid.
[speaking in 2007] The thing that attracts me to all the jobs I've
done over the last few years was the offer of employment. I've had to
audition for every single job I've ever done, I think. So it's not just a
question of being attracted. Yes, I like the things I've done, and I've
been very luck that the things I've done - I think - have a certain
level of quality. But had I only got parts that were rubbish, I'd be
doing them as well, because I'm an actor and I need the work. But I'm
getting a little more choice. When I read El último rey de Escocia
(2006), I thought this is excellent, and I'd be very lucky to get this.
That was my choice, but afterward I still had to convince somebody else
to choose me.
[When asked what an actor should never do] Read reviews. You just
try and do your job and not worry about what people say, because
ultimately it can only affect what you do in a negative way. It can only
make you a worse actor.
The minute you start to strategize too much, the more you start to
think you're in control of your own fate. And you're not, really.
I was one of the lucky people that saw Cisne negro
(2010) thinking that it was just a movie about ballet dancing. And what
an amazing surprise and treat to go, 'Oh right, so it's about ballet
dancing; oh right, it's also about a messed-up ballet dancer; oh right,
it's about a mental case ballet dancer; oh my God it's about an absolute
nut job!'
[on dealing with the media] It's a difficult thing - you've got to
talk about yourself but you've also got to try not to say anything
about yourself. The more you give of yourself, the more there is to
chase after.
[on his relationship with his wife] We keep our noses clean and
keep our stuff private. We don't have affairs, we don't turn up to
parties, we don't fall out of places drunk. We're not that interesting. I
don't wear a dress where you can see my knickers when I'm getting out
of a taxi. Do you know what I mean? I find all that weird.
My favourite kind of theatre is when I see the actors bleed and
sweat blood and look like they're having heart attacks. You've got to
try and dash yourself without breaking yourself too much.
[on his role as Bruce Robertson in Filth
(2013)] He's not somebody you want to be, he's not somebody you'd want
to know... if you see somebody manipulate and corrupt and abuse and all
these things then ultimately you want to see them get their comeuppance,
and without giving too much away you probably get that in this as well.
[on Welcome to the Punch (2013)] Don't get me wrong. I love British cinema, but there's also a place for ostentatious, balls-out entertainment.
[on Filth
(2013)] As an actor, you've got to try and make the audience like you,
even if you're doing bad things. I quite like that dynamic, so I thought
more about pushing it, about someone who does despicable things.
I don't want to be all worthy about it, but I don't do red
carpets, I don't do events and I don't accept freebies that much.
About the age of 15 or so I did consider it, and specifically not
just any old priest, I considered being a missionary, 'cause I thought
the whole great romantic idea of going off to far-flung regions, and
helping people and trying to do all that was not only a good thing to do
and romantic thing to do, but quite an adventurous thing to do. So I
thought about that, but then I did start getting more luck with girls
about that time, and that sort of put the kibosh on wedding myself to
God. Girls and adventure, and then acting kind of came along right at
that moment as well, and so I am so, so thankful, especially since I
turned my back on God, he has not punished me, thank you very much.
I always have a beard between jobs. I just let it grow until they
pay me to shave it. People are quite surprised it's ginger. Sometimes
they ask me if dye my hair and I always say "Wow, no! I'm
'trans-ginger'."
[on "Macbeth"] It's not got a Scottish voice. It's written for an
English voice. But it is historically set in a place depicted by
Shakespeare as brutal and violent, incredibly superstitious, and that's
something that I do believe is Scottish.
[on his eyebrows] They're gonna be my f****** passport to playing wizards in my seventies.
[McAvoy's views on Danny Boyle, director of Trance
(2013)] Danny has incredible energy. It's quite something to behold. He
drinks a lot of coffee and he's about four feet taller when his hair's
standing up. He's working on the Olympics Thursday and Friday and doing
our film the rest of the time.
[on basing his character Arthur in Arthur Christmas: Operación regalo
(2011) partly on Prince Harry] I think he's a more innocent Harry. I
think I'd love Harry. He's a proper, man. He's like, "I'm never gonna be
the king, it's cool."
[on being asked to lose weight for his role as Bruce Robertson in Filth (2013)] I was like, "Aw, must I? Can't I just act it, darling?" [in his best Laurence Olivier accent].
If you can't empathise and imagine what it is like to be somebody
from somewhere else your world becomes very small and you can only do
one thing. I went in there [the RSAMD, now renamed the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland] being able to do 'angry young Glaswegian' and
that was about it really. I came out being able to do a lot of the
stuff that I've done.
[on Filth
(2013)] Some people will just hate it, but there is going to be a lot
of people who wouldn't expect to like it who will find it entertaining,
interesting and emotionally powerful. It is not what you usually expect
from me. It is not Trainspotting (1996). It is very Irvine Welsh but it has got its own voice.
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