61 Facts About James McAvoy

James McAvoy made his acting debut as a teen in The Near Room and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began.

In 2003, McAvoy appeared in a lead role in Bollywood Queen, then in another lead role as Rory in Inside I'm Dancing in 2004.

James McAvoy later appeared as a newly trained assassin in the action thriller Wanted.

In 2011, James McAvoy portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and Dark Phoenix.

James McAvoy starred in the crime comedy-drama film Filth, for which he won Best Actor in the British Independent Film Awards.

James McAvoy's parents separated when he was seven and divorced when he was eleven.

James McAvoy has a younger sister named Joy and a younger half-brother named Donald.

James McAvoy confirmed in an interview with The Guardian that both his parents were deceased, but he had not been in contact with his father since childhood.

James McAvoy attended the Catholic St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in the Jordanhill area of Glasgow and briefly considered joining the priesthood.

James McAvoy applied to join the Royal Navy and had already been accepted when he was offered a place to study acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

James McAvoy's acting debut was at the age of 15 years in The Near Room.

James McAvoy later admitted that he was not very interested in acting when joining the film, but was inspired to study acting after developing feelings for his co-star, Alana Brady.

James McAvoy continued to act while still a member of PACE Youth Theatre.

James McAvoy graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2000.

James McAvoy kept declining them and it was not until six years later that the two worked together.

James McAvoy gained the attention of critics in 2002's White Teeth, a four-part television drama miniseries adaption based on the novel of the same name by Zadie Smith.

In 2022, James McAvoy commented that Smith "didn't say [he] was bad at playing the part".

In 2003, James McAvoy appeared in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, adapted from Frank Herbert's novels.

In 2002, James McAvoy shot scenes for Bollywood Queen, described as West Side Story meets Romeo and Juliet with bindis, the film deals with star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of clashing cultures; it was shown as a special presentation at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and opened in UK cinemas on 17 October.

James McAvoy ended 2004 by appearing in the first two series of Shameless as Steve McBride, the moral hero of the BAFTA-winning Channel 4 programme.

James McAvoy was directed by David Nicholls, who adapted the film's screenplay from his own book.

James McAvoy portrayed a Scottish doctor who becomes the personal physician to dictator Idi Amin while in Uganda.

James McAvoy assessed his character to be a "completely selfish prick".

An overwhelmed James McAvoy fainted during his first take of what would be the hardest scene for him to shoot, Nicholas's torture.

James McAvoy was named Best Actor of the year by Scotland's own BAFTA Awards, where the film swept the major categories, and received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

The breakthrough role in James McAvoy's career came in Atonement, Joe Wright's 2007 adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel of the same title.

James McAvoy shared that he hoped viewers will be left "absolutely devastated and harrowed".

In December 2022, James McAvoy stated that McEwan was not entirely satisfied with his casting as Robbie in Atonement.

When James McAvoy screen-tested for the role, he was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional Hollywood leading-man looks and physique.

James McAvoy later recalled being considered the "runt of the litter" of those who tested, but ultimately got the role in late 2006 since the studio "wanted someone geeky".

James McAvoy had not previously done this type of genre, and thought of Wanted as a chance to be more versatile.

In 2009, James McAvoy voiced Angelina's father, Maurice Mouseling, in the television series, Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps.

James McAvoy appeared onstage in 2009 at Apollo Theatre's Three Days of Rain.

In Robert Redford's historical American drama The Conspirator, James McAvoy played the role of an idealistic war hero who reluctantly defends co-conspirator Mary Surratt charged in the Abraham Lincoln assassination.

In mid-2010, James McAvoy was cast as telepathic superhero Professor X, leader and founder of the X-Men, in X-Men: First Class.

James McAvoy joined an ensemble that included Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult.

James McAvoy did not read comics as a child, but was a fan of the X-Men animated cartoon series.

That same year, James McAvoy voiced the title character in the animated holiday film Arthur Christmas.

James McAvoy played the lead role in the Danny Boyle film Trance.

In 2012, James McAvoy was cast as Bruce Robertson in Filth, an adaptation of the Irvine Welsh novel of the same name.

James McAvoy performed the male lead in radio play adaptation of Neverwhere written by Neil Gaiman.

In October 2016 James McAvoy played the character Richard in the BBC Radio 4 production of Neil Gaiman's short story 'How The Marquis Got His Coat Back'.

James McAvoy starred in Shakespeare's Macbeth on London's West End in early 2013.

In 2015, James McAvoy won the Best Actor award at London's Evening Standard Theater Awards for his portrayal of Jack Gurney in The Ruling Class, a revival of the Peter Barnes play directed by Jamie Lloyd.

James McAvoy reprised his role as Professor X in X-Men: Days of Future Past, which grossed $747.9million worldwide, making it the sixth highest-grossing film of the year 2014 and the second highest-grossing film in the X-Men franchise and in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse.

James McAvoy's performance was praised by critics, with some hailing it as the best of his career.

In 2018, James McAvoy voiced Hazel in the BBC miniseries Watership Down.

James McAvoy played the adult Bill Denbrough in the horror film It Chapter Two, the sequel to It, which premiered on 6 September 2019 and grossed $473million at the box office.

Also in 2019, James McAvoy starred as Lord Asriel in the television adaptation of His Dark Materials.

On 4 March 2020, it was announced that Audible would be adapting Neil Gaiman's acclaimed comic book series The Sandman into a multi-part audio drama, with James McAvoy voicing the lead character, Dream.

James McAvoy starred in the Jaime Lloyd Company production of Cyrano de Bergerac which opened in the West End's Harold Pinter Theatre on February 3,2022, for which he won a What's On Stage award for Best Performer in a Male-Identifying Role.

James McAvoy continued his performance in a limited run at the Harvey Theater at Brooklyn Academy of Music, opening the show stateside on April 5,2022, and running until May 22,2022.

James McAvoy confirmed in an interview to The Guardian in February 2022 that he had secretly married his partner Lisa Liberati after years of speculation.

James McAvoy considers himself a spiritual person who no longer practises Catholicism.

James McAvoy enjoys fantasy themes, which he said started from age 11 with reading The Lord of the Rings.

James McAvoy is a fan of Celtic FC, stating that his dream acting role would be Celtic player Jimmy Johnstone.

James McAvoy had once been a video game addict, playing role-playing games such as The Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which he quit after it began affecting his life.

James McAvoy recalled burning his disc of Oblivion with a kitchen stove to get rid of his addiction to the game.

James McAvoy had previously called 3D films a "waste of money", accusing film studios of using the effect to get more money out of cinema audiences.

In 2011, James McAvoy did a "terrifying" BASE jump from the world's tallest hospital building in a bid to help raise money for Ugandan children's charity Retrak, which assists children on the streets.

James McAvoy had become involved with the charity after shooting The Last King of Scotland there for several months and was shocked by what he saw.