Last year, Scottish actor James McAvoy found himself a lot of new and younger fans by playing Mr. Tumnus in Disneyâs blockbuster, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and heâs been keeping busy since then, having a number of new movies coming out in the next few months. Heâs definitely becoming a hot actor in demand, being called upon for a number of different movie roles.
One of the most interesting ones is playing the role of Wesley Gibson in the movie version of the subversive Top Cow comic Wanted, created by Mark Millar and JG Jones, about how the super-villains of the world band together to kill all the superheroes, leaving Wesley alone to decide which side to take.
While in New York for his next movie The Last King of Scotland, McAvoy talked with ComingSoon.net/SuperheroHype.com about the comic book movie, which will be directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch).
âIâve heard of the comic, I hadnât read it,â he said to us. âItâs a Glaswegian writer [Mark Millar] that did the book. Iâm a bit of a sci-fi fan, though I never got around to reading it. The thing that really turned me on and got me really excited first of all was Timur the director, âcause Iâd seen âNight Watchâ and shortly after, I saw âDay Watch.â I was blown away by the first one and then even more blown away by âDay Watch.â Iâm such a sci-fi nut, and itâs kind of wish fullfillment to play that kind of part, but Iâm not going to try to get all buff for it. Iâm going to try to make him a real guy. I know thatâs not revolutionary and thatâs been done before in this realm, but itâs not done all the time.â
âItâs difficult because the character has been based so obviously, at least visually on Eminem, I feel like I need to get away from that, because I feel thatâs something Iâll never achieve,â he confessed. âI feel that Iâd like to take the essence of what [Mark Millarâs] done and fill it. What else a live action thing does, as opposed to a comic, is that thereâs some things that really work well in the translation and some things that donât. I suppose that will determine our level of success, how we grade that, and how Timur and I work that out. Heâs exciting. Heâs an evil genius, so Iâm just puttinâ my ass in his hands and hopefully, he wonât burn it.â
âIâve not done it in a couple years, but Iâm bendy still,â McAvoy said about his gymnastic skills, which heâll probably need for the role. âI can move around. Thereâs a lot of jumping around and swinging around and doing silly things, so I canât wait.â
He hasnât met his fellow Scotsman Mark Millar yet, but since the movie is set in America, he wonât be using his normal Scottish accent. McAvoy also said that Sh*thead, the villain made completely out of sh*t, isnât in the current script. âItâs kind of pared back. Itâs less superheroey, and itâs more about the empowerment of lives, and how Wesley does all this amazing stuff because people tell him heâs a superhero, then he realizes he just did it through belief.â
Wanted will probably begin shooting next year, but you can see McAvoy in a bunch of other movies in the meantime, including the drama The Last King of Scotland, which opens September 27.
Source: Edward Douglas