Shameless! Why McAvoy faked pal’s car crash
WHEN James McAvoy wanted to cry off from an audition, that’s exactly what he did – literally.
The X-Men star has admitted he once pretended a friend had been hurt in a car crash and then burst into fake tears to cut short a disastrous try-out for a new film.
McAvoy, 35, now one of Britain’s most acclaimed stars, admitted: ‘My agent suggested something that she thought was going to be great for me. I needed to learn songs and to play the guitar.
‘I said, “No problem,” but the day came and I was rubbish at all of that. I stood in front of them and thought, “I’ve got to get out of this,” so I started to cry and said, “I’ve just had a phone call. My mate has been knocked down, he’s at the hospital and I have to go.”’
The Scots star, who found fame in the Channel 4 series Shameless before being cast as the fawn Mr Tumnus in 2005 film The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, confessed to his deception on BBC TV’s Graham Norton Show.
McAvoy said: ‘If they [the producers] are watching this they will be thinking, “We really believed him and he is a b******!” ‘I am sorry for that.’ The actor is due to star in a new stage production of The Ruling Class at the Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End.
McAvoy’s credits include the acclaimed 2007 adaptation of Atonement with Keira Knightley, Wanted opposite Angelina Jolie as well as 2013 comedy drama Filth. He is married to the celebrated actress Anne-Marie Duff who he met when they were both starring in Shameless.
Despite his Hollywood successes, the pair live a modest life, reportedly still driving their 1990s Nissan Micra. The couple are rarely seen at parties, choosing instead to read or do Sudoku puzzles together. The actor has described his lifestyle as ‘mundane’, saying: ‘I love it that way.’
He has landed the title role in new film Victor Frankenstein. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is to play the scientist’s assistant, Igor.