The Chronicles of Narnia

Background:

“I always believed that I never wanted to be an actor. I only did it because I was allowed to do it and I had to do something.” James McAvoy

Initially planning to join the Royal Navy if his acting career did not work out, James McAvoy got his first break in 2003 when he was cast as the young adult emperor Leto II Atreides, a central character in the well-received three-part Sci-Fi Channel miniseries based on Frank Herbert's novel, “Children of Dune.” He went on to star in the next year's films "Wimbledon" and "Inside I'm Dancing" (aka. "Rory O'Shea Was Here") before eventually garnered international recognition while portraying Mr. Tumnus in the epic fantasy film adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” (2005).

The talented Scottish actor has since played lead roles in such films as "The Last King of Scotland" (2006), "Penelope" (2006), "Starter for 10" (2006), "Becoming Jane" (2007), "Atonement" (2007), and "Wanted" (2008). Next, he will co-star with Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, and Helen Mirren in the upcoming historical drama film about Russian author Leo Tolstoy, "The Last Station." He will also lend his voice alongside Emily Blunt in an animated version of Shakespeare's play, "Gnomeo and Juliet."

On the small screen, McAvoy could be seen in various TV movies and miniseries, and in co-starring roles in the British TV series "Early Doors," "State of Play," and "Shameless."

“I'm 5 foot 7 and I've got pasty white skin. I don't think I'm ugly, don't get me wrong, but I'm not your classic lead man, Brad Pitt guy.” James McAvoy

More personally, this 5' 7" player, who was one of People Magazine's “Sexiest Men Alive” (2007) and Entertainment Weekly's “30 Under 30” (2008), once dated Scottish actress Emma Nielsen. He has been married to his "Shameless" co-star Anne-Marie Duff since 2006.

James Andrew

Childhood and Family:

In Glasgow, Scotland, James Andrew McAvoy was born on January 1, 1979. His sister, Joy McAvoy, is a singer in the Scottish girl group “Streetside.” After his parents, James McAvoy, a builder, and Elizabeth McAvoy, a psychiatric nurse, divorced when he was 7, McAvoy and his sister moved in with their maternal grandparents, James and Mary Johnstone. Growing up in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, McAvoy moved to London at the age of 20.

“It was a very weird world to go into from a normal working-class upbringing in Glasgow.” James McAvoy.

After graduating from St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, a Catholic school, McAvoy trained at the Pace Youth Theatre and Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he graduated in 2000.

“I actually went to drama school in Glasgow, so I stayed in my home town the whole time. However, I see more of my friends now than I did then. It's strange.” James McAvoy

McAvoy began dating Scottish actress Emma Nielsen when they were 16 years old, but they broke up in 2003. On October 18, 2006, he married actress Anne-Marie Duff (born on October 8, 1970), whom he met while co-starring in "Shameless" (BBC). They now live in London.

McAvoy is a highly skilled boxer, fencer, and rugby player, as well as a talented gymnast and acrobat. He enjoys science fiction and is a fan of the Celtic Football Club.

Atonement

Career:

A Catholic school kid, James McAvoy considered joining the Catholic priesthood while growing up. A self-described film lover and “sci-fi geek,” McAvoy began acting at age 15, a few months after he was introduced to Scottish actor/director David Hayman at a school sponsored career day. Hayman called him to join an audition for a role in his 1995 film, “The Near Room,” a thriller about child prostitution starring Adrian Dunbar and Emma Faulkner. After winning the role of Kevin Savage in the film, McAvoy won a spot at the Royal Scottish Academy of Dance and Music.

“I talk about this a lot when people ask me about my favorite films and things, and I try to be as honest as possible, but it is 'The Goonies' (1985). I did watch 'The Goonies' (1985) a lot.” James McAvoy

He also appeared in the TV movie "An Angel Passes By" (1997) and guest starred in an episode of "The Bill." He was then cast as Anthony Balfour in Gillies MacKinnon's film adaptation of Pat Barker's novel, "Regeneration" (1997), alongside David Hayman.

James acted on the stage portraying Ferdinand in “The Tempest” at the Brunton Theatre, Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet” at The Courtyard Hereford, Riff in “West Side Story” at The Courtyard Hereford, Bobby Buckfast in the pantomime "Beauty & the Beauty" at the Adam Smith Theatre, and Gerald in the U.K. premiere of Jeanne-Mance DeLisle's “The Reel of the Hanged Man” at the Traverse Theatre, in Edinburgh.

McAvoy moved to London after graduating in 2000 and supported himself working at a bakery. He only scored one TV movie project, "Lorna Doone" (2000), and a guest spot in an episode of "Murder in Mind" during this time. The frustrated struggling actor nearly gave up on acting and seriously considered joining the Royal Navy until he landed a small role as Pvt. James W. Miller in the ten-part HBO World War II miniseries, “Band of Brothers” (2001), which was based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. The series was co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Afterward, he appeared in the films "Swimming Pool - Der Tod feiert mit" (2001) and "Bollywood Queen" (2002), and in the PBS miniseries "White Teeth" (2002). He also guest starred in an episode of "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" and "Foyle's War,” and portrayed Iggy in "Out In The Open," a play by Jonathan Harvey at the Hampstead Theatre, in London. He was then seen as Private Stephen Flowers in a revival of Peter Nichols' "Privates on Parade" at the Donmar Warehouse, in London, and played Joe in “Lovers” at the Royal Lyceum Theatre.

In 2003, McAvoy landed his first starring role, that of emperor Leto II Atreides, in the well-received three-part Sci-Fi Channel miniseries based on Frank Herbert's novel, “Children of Dune,” with Alec Newman, Julie Cox, Daniela Amavia, Alice Krige, and Susan Sarandon. That same year, he was also cast as columnist Simon Balcairn in Stephen Fry's directorial debut "Bright Young Things," a drama film based on the 1930 novel "Vile Bodies" by Evelyn Waugh. On the small screen, he played Liam, Mel's (played by Christine Bottomley) boyfriend, on Series 1 of the BBC sitcom "Early Doors," and starred as hard-nosed reporter Dan Foster on the critically acclaimed BBC One crime thriller series "State of Play," alongside David Morrissey, John Simm, Kelly Macdonald, Polly Walker, and Bill Nighy.

From 2004 to 2005, McAvoy played lovable thief Steve McBride, Fiona's (played by future wife Anne-Marie Duff) boyfriend, in the BAFTA award-winning British comedy drama television series "Shameless." The role earned him a British Comedy Award nomination for Best TV Comedy Newcomer in 2004.

During this time, James also continued working in films and provided his voice to Anders Rønnow Klarlund's animated fantasy "Strings" (2004). He then portrayed Paul Bettany's brother in Richard Loncraine's romantic comedy "Wimbledon" (2004), and played the title role of a maverick Irish teenager with muscular dystrophy in Damien O'Donnell's drama “Inside I'm Dancing” (2004; aka. "Rory O'Shea Was Here"), which earned him a London Critics Circle Film Award nomination for British Actor of the Year. He also portrayed Macbeth for a BBC Shakespeare anthology series called "ShakespeaRe-Told" and played Ben in Laura Wade's play, "Breathing Corpses," at the Royal Court Theatre, in London.

2005 saw McAvoy gain international recognition when he snagged the role of Mr. Tumnus in the epic fantasy film adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” His performance in the smash hit film earned him nominations at the 2006 Empire Awards for Best Newcomer and the London Critics Circle Film Awards for British Supporting Actor of the Year.

McAvoy next won the Best Actor Award at the BAFTA Scotland Awards for his brilliant turn as Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, a fictional young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda and becomes the personal physician to the dictator Idi Amin (played by Forest Whitaker), in Kevin Macdonald's biopic based on Giles Foden's novel, "The Last King of Scotland" (2006). The role also handed him nominations at the BAFTA Film Awards, British Independent Film Awards, European Film Awards, and London Critics Circle Film Awards. Also in 2006, McAvoy co-starred with Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon in Mark Palansky's romantic comedy film "Penelope," which premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the U.S. on February 29, 2008.

“I really liked 'Starter For Ten' because I grew up watching 1980s teen films like 'St Elmo’s Fire' and 'The Breakfast Club' and I’ve always wanted to play the underdog lead hero in a 1980s-inspired film. I also really liked playing Mr. Tumnus in 'Narnia.' I got to play my favorite character in children’s literature, which I loved. You don’t get the chance to do that in other jobs.” James McAvoy

James also starred as student Brian Jackson in Tom Vaughan's film adaptation of David Nicholls' novel set in 1985, "Starter for 10," which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006 and was released in the U.S. and Canada in spring 2007.

After portraying English novelist Jane Austen's (played by Anne Hathaway) mischievous love interest Thomas Langlois Lefroy in Julian Jarrold's historical film, "Becoming Jane" (2007; also featuring Julie Walters, James Cromwell and Maggie Smith), McAvoy went on to co-star with Keira Knightley in Joe Wright's film adaptation of Ian McEwan's critically acclaimed novel, "Atonement" (2007).

On filming sex scenes with Keira Knightley for “Atonement” (2007), McAvoy revealed, “It's always a nightmare filming sex scenes, isn't it? It's never easy and it's always a little bit sweaty and uncomfortable. When they call action, if you feel the lady's breast, it's your decision to feel the lady's breast. It's like, this is wrong. You have no parameters.”

For his solid portrayal of Robbie Turner, James earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama and won an Empire Film Award for Best Actor. He was also nominated for Best Leading Actor at the BAFTA Film Awards and Best International Actor at the Irish Film and Television Awards. The film itself won an Oscar for the Best Original Score at the 80th Academy Awards and was nominated for six others, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (for Saoirse Ronan).

“I got to satisfy the 16 year-old boy's yearning to break things and jump up and down and beat people up. It was a very physical film and I had to get fit and go to the gym, which I don't really enjoy.” James McAvoy (on his role in “Wanted,” 2008)

Recently, McAvoy starred opposite Angelina Jolie in the film loosely based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar, "Wanted" (2008). His performance in the film that also features Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann, and Terence Stamp, earned him a Best Male nomination at the National Movie Awards.

"I can tell you what it was like to kiss her on a film set: It was awkward, sweaty and not very nice. There was angst involved in that, as always. I don't think Brad Pitt felt threatened for one moment." James McAvoy (discussing a kiss with Angelina Jolie in “Wanted,” 2008)

McAvoy will soon complete his latest film, "The Last Station," a historical drama directed by Michael Hoffman about Russian author Leo Tolstoy (played by Christopher Plummer). The movie also stars Paul Giamatti, Helen Mirren, and his wife Anne-Marie Duff. He is currently working on "Gnomeo and Juliet," an animated version of Shakespeare's play set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes in which he will voice Gnomeo, alongside Emily Blunt as Juliet.

Awards:

• Santa Barbara International Film Festival: Virtuoso Award, 2008

• London Critics Circle Film: ALFS Award - British Actor of the Year, "Atonement," 2008

• Variety Club's Annual Showbusiness: Film Award, 2008

• Empire: Best Actor, “Atonement,” 2008

• Elle Style Awards: Best Actor, 2008

• Cannes Film Festival: Chopard Trophy - Male Revelation, 2007

• BAFTA Scotland: Best Actor, "The Last King of Scotland," 2007

• BAFTA: Rising Star Award, 2006