Here’s Jamesy! Why McAvoy is Hollywood’s go-to guy to play a horror movie psychopath
GLARING menacingly with his teeth bared and a crazed expression on his face, James McAvoy wouldn’t look out of place in hit horror film The Shining.
Like Jack Nicholson’s famous portrayal of character Jack Torrance’s descent into madness, McAvoy looks equally troubled and fearsome.
The image of the Scots actor comes from his latest movie – Speak No Evil – in which he plays a terrifying and volatile host who, like Torrance, becomes more disturbing as the film progresses.
The thriller is inspired by a 2022 Danish film of the same name, which follows the story of two couples who strike up a friendship after meeting on holiday.
McAvoy and his on-screen wife then invite their new friends to spend a weekend at their idyllic country house, but the trip soon turns into a gory nightmare.
A screening of the trailer took place at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last week.
It isn’t the first time the actor, from Glasgow, has taken on such a role.
He starred as a man with 23 different personalities – one of them a terrifying persona called The Beast – in Hollywood blockbusters Split and Glass, alongside Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson.
The 44-year-old also played unhinged Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson, who spends his time indulging in drugs, alcohol, sexually abusive relationships and cruel plots, in 2013 film Filth.
Speak No Evil director James Watkins said: ‘It’s remarkable what a kind, generous, funny, charismatic person my friend James is because he’s also capable of plumbing into some pretty disturbing depths in his roles.’
Discussing McAvoy’s character in the film, the director added: ‘On one hand, he’s a charming and gregarious friend, host, husband and father. And on the other hand, he’s, well, not that at all.’