James McAvoy

James McAvoy. sexayy. sexayy. yep
McAvoy at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 7th Annual Breakthrough Awards
Born	James Andrew McAvoy
Years active	1995 - present
Spouse	Anne-Marie Duff (2006-)

James Andrew McAvoy [pronounced MACK-uh-voy], (born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish stage and screen actor best known for his starring roles in Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, and the British TV series Shameless.

Biography

Early life

McAvoy was born in Scotstoun, Glasgow, the son of Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a psychiatric nurse, and James McAvoy, a builder. His sister, Joy McAvoy, is a singer. McAvoy's parents divorced when he was seven, and he subsequently lived with his maternal grandparents, Mary and James Johnstone. He attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, a Catholic school, and considered joining the navy. He was in the Pace Youth Theatre for over six years, trained by Mhari Gilbert, and graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2000.

Career

McAvoy's first roles were in David Hayman's The Near Room in 1995 and then as Anthony Balfour in Pat Barker's Regeneration in 1997. McAvoy got his first big international break with a role in the Stephen Spielberg-produced miniseries Band of Brothers. His first international starring role was as Leto Atreides II in the 2003 Sci Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (adapted from Frank Herbert’s novels) and the same year he co-starred in Paul Abbott's acclaimed thriller serial State of Play. In 2004 he starred as Steve McBride in another Abbott-written drama series, Shameless on Channel 4, for which he was nominated for the British Comedy Award for Best TV Newcomer. In 2005, he played Ben in the Royal Court Theatre's production Breathing Corpses, as well as the role of Mr. Tumnus, the Faun in Disney and Walden Media's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He also starred in Wimbledon as Carl Colt and as Macbeth in Shakespeare Retold.

In 2006, he starred alongside Forest Whitaker in an adaptation of Giles Foden’s novel The Last King of Scotland based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s regime as seen by his (fictional) personal physician during the 1970s. He took the lead, Brian Jackson, in Starter for Ten (the adaptation of the David Nicholls novel of the same name). McAvoy won the new Mary Selway/Orange Rising Star Award at the 2006 BAFTA Awards.

McAvoy and Anne-Marie Duff at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in London's Royal Opera House in February 2007

In 2007 he appeared in two critically acclaimed films — Becoming Jane and Atonement, the latter of which is based on Ian McEwan's 2001 novel. McAvoy was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in Atonement. McAvoy recently finished work on the film adaptation of Wanted. He workshopped scenes for the movie Three Way Split for directors Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger, but will not take part in the actual film.

He is rumoured to be appearing in the movie Frost Flowers and Channel 4 mini series The Devil's Whore. He also starred along side Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon in the fairytale film Penelope.

His next film is Wanted, in which he plays Wesley Gibson, a twenty-five year old employee who works in a cubicle. He is offered the opportunity to avenge the death of his father, who was an assassin. He is then trained by his father's partner, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), and by Sloan's second-in-command, played by Angelina Jolie. It is set to be released on 2008-06-27.

Personal life

He married his Shameless co-star, Anne-Marie Duff, in 2006; they now live in Stroud Green, London. McAvoy enjoys science fiction, and is a fan of Celtic Football Club.

Stage and screen credits

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Regeneration	Anthony Balfour
2001	Band of Brothers	James W. Miller	TV miniseries
2002	White Teeth	Josh	TV movie
2003	Frank Herbert's Children of Dune	Leto Atreides II	TV miniseries
	Bright Young Things	Simon Balcairn
	State of Play	Dan Foster	TV miniseries
2004	Early Doors	Liam	TV movie
	Bollywood Queen	Jay
	Wimbledon	Carl Colt
	Inside I'm Dancing	Rory O'Shea
	Shameless	Steve McBride	TV series
2005
	Macbeth	Joe Macbeth	TV movie
	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	Mr. Tumnus, the Faun
2006	The Last King of Scotland	Dr Nicholas Garrigan	BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nomination
	Starter for Ten	Brian Jackson
2007	Becoming Jane	Tom Lefroy
	Atonement	Robbie Turner	BAFTA Best Actor nomination
2008
	Penelope	Max
	Wanted	Wesley Gibson

Theatre

• The Tempest, Brunton Theatre - Ferdinand
• Romeo and Juliet, The Courtyard Hereford (1999) - Romeo
• West Side Story, The Courtyard Hereford (1999) - Riff
• Beauty and the Beast, Adam Smith Theatre (1999-2000, pantomime) - Bobby
• Romeo and Juliet (2000) - Romeo
• The Reel of the Hanged Man, Traverse Theatre (2000) - Gerald
• Lovers, Royal Lyceum Theatre - Joe
• Out In The Open, Hampstead Theatre (2001) - Iggy
• Privates On Parade, Donmar Warehouse (2001-2002) - Pt Steven Flowers
• Breathing Corpses, Royal Court Theatre (2005) - Ben

External links

• James McAvoy at IMDb
• James McAvoy visits Uganda
• James McAvoy Atonement video interview (with Keira Knightley), September 2007
• "'I feel on the edge of failure'" The Guardian feature story, 7 September 2007. (Accessed 23 September 2007).