“At the heart of every really good Christmas movie is the threat, I suppose, to Christmas. Something is wrong with Christmas, in all of these movies. In 'The Polar Express,' there's a kid that doesn't really believe, and that's the threat to Christmas. In 'Santa Claus: The Movie,' jealousy and greed are threatening to overrun his Christmas.” BelieveHeartKidsThreatGreedThreateningSantaSanta ClausPolar Express Author:James McAvoy
“Distance is a bad excuse for not having a good relationship with somebody. It's the determination to keep it going or let it fall by the wayside; that's the real reason that the relationships continue.” RealReasonFallDeterminationDistanceExcuseGood Relationship Author:James McAvoy
“Film sets are a strange place, but an exciting place. I do love my work; I really enjoy going to work. But if you just spend all your time on film sets or even on stage, you can become a Michael Jackson figure, living in your own little universe.” IfsLittlesFilmUniverseEnjoyStageFiguresStrangeExcitingGoing To WorkFilm SetStrange Places Author:James McAvoy
“I actually went to drama school at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama 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.” WholeHomeSchoolStrangeDramaMy FriendsTownsRoyalAcademyScottishGlasgowHome Town Author:James McAvoy
“I did undergo hypnotherapy, and it didn't work! The guy couldn't put me under. I was very disappointed. I was very keen to be suggested, to have somebody tell me to run naked or cluck like a chicken or whatever, but it didn't work for me, I'm afraid.” RunningGuyNakedChickensDisappointed Author:James McAvoy
“I do find it strange, doing magazine shoots. Photographers always go, 'Why don't you like to have your picture taken? That's what you do for a living anyway. Just pretend you're acting. It's the same thing!'” ActingTakenStrangePhotographerMagazinesPicture Taken Author:James McAvoy
“I don't really... go to 'the opening of an envelope.' I don't really turn up to all the events, you know what I mean? If I'm involved, I'll go, and if there's a good friend who needs support, I'll go, but otherwise... I don't go. I'm probably just a bit like my grandparents; I like staying in.” IfsKnowsNeedsMeanTurnsBitsSupportEventsInvolvedOpeningStayingGood FriendGrandparentEnvelopes Author:James McAvoy
“I don't think I'm ever going to get to the point where people run across a freeway to take a picture of me. I really don't see it getting to that level of hysteria unless I have an affair with the Queen of Sweden or something like that.” PeopleThinkingRunningLevelsAffairQueensHysteriaSwedenFreeways Author:James McAvoy
“I generally get challenged; I haven't been typecast, which is really, really, nice. It's not something that every actor gets, really. It's luxury. Most actors are capable of it, but they aren't afforded the opportunity to express their variety.” ActorsOpportunityNiceHavensCapableLuxuryVarietyReally Nice Author:James McAvoy
“I like playing sport, and I like doing physical stuff. I like hiking and I like climbing and I like playing sport. I do a lot. But I don't like the term 'exercising.' I feel like with sport, you're playing games. But with exercise, you're literally just trying to stop yourself from dying too young. It's weird.” FeelsTryingYoungGamesStuffSportsTermDyingExerciseClimbingHikingPlaying GamesPlaying SportsStuff I Like Author:James McAvoy
“I love going to art galleries. The Tate Modern is one of my favourite things to do. But I don't invest in the history of it and I don't read up on it. I am a guy who would buy a print rather than buy an original.” ArtGuyModernOriginalsThings To DoPrintFavouriteGalleryArt GalleriesFavourite Things Author:James McAvoy
“I think my recognizability ebbs and flows. I don't lead a particularly celebrity lifestyle or anything like that. I don't go to showbiz parties or red-carpet events, so it all depends on whether I've got a film out. I've not been very visible in the last year or so and as a result hardly anyone stops me in the street.” ThinkingYearsLastsFilmResultsPartyStreetsEventsDependsRedFlowLifestyleVisibleLast YearCarpetRed CarpetEbb And FlowShowbiz Author:James McAvoy
“I try to keep my life low key, and I don't like going to parties unless they're thrown by a friend of mine, or they're to do with a project I'm in, or it's because I've been nominated for an award.” TryingPartyMinesKeysProjectsLowsThrownAwardsLow Key Author:James McAvoy
“I wanted to be a doctor at one point and I also wanted to be a pilot. I think if you grow up in a dodgy area, reality often beats down those ambitions as you get older. But with me that never really happened.” IfsThinkingRealityWantedGrowsGrowing UpHappenedAmbitionBeatsAreasDoctorsPilots Author:James McAvoy
“I was brought up by my grandparents. So people go, oh, what was that like? That must have been hard. And you go: No, it wasn't.' It was just completely actually normal because the new norm seems to be whatever you make of it, doesn't it?” PeopleHas BeensHardSeemsNormalGrandparentNorm Author:James McAvoy
“I've done enough for a while and people get fed up of seeing you, but apart from that, although I'm young, I need a bit of rest. You could say I have become a house husband. It's not a new man thing, it's just largely a boring man who doesn't mind staying in the house thing.” PeopleMenNeedsMindDoneEnoughYoungHouseBitsSeeingHusbandBoringStayingFedsFed Up Author:James McAvoy
“I've seen beautiful actresses get spat at or just someone trying to get a rise out of them so they can get an extra hundred bucks for a photo. It's really rough.” TryingBeautifulHundredActressesExtrasRoughBucksSpats Author:James McAvoy
“If a scene is three pages long, quite often people break it up and do a page, say 'cut' then move on to the next bit, they do it in cuts. I don't really like doing that; I like to go through it all in one organic run, then give notes afterward. A little bit more like theater.” PeopleIfsGivingLittlesLongRunningMovingThreeNextBitsBreakCuttingSceneLittle BitPagesTheaterNotes Author:James McAvoy
“If you don't have the good fortune to work a lot then you take any job you get offered, whether it's a good job, fun job, a bad job, horrible job, whatever, you just take what you need to take. But I'm lucky in that - at the moment anyway and hopefully forever, but who knows - I get the chance to pick jobs for the kick of it and the fun.” IfsKnowsNeedsMomentsJobsFunChanceForeverLuckyPicksFortuneHorribleHopefullyKicksGood JobGood FortuneBad JobsHorrible Jobs Author:James McAvoy
“Marriage is an ongoing thing, man. You continue to work at it. But it's joyful. And joyous. I don't care if people are living without a marriage certificate. It's just about people, in some way, saying to each other, I commit to you. I will help you in this life.” PeopleIfsMenWayHelpingCareDon't CareCommitThis LifeI Don't CareJoyfulOngoingJoyousCertificates Author:James McAvoy
“'St. Elmo's Fire' is one of my favorite films. I like the storytelling of those teenage American films. You don't get that now. Teenage American movies are all about sick jokes, puking a lot, arse jokes.” FilmFireJokesSickMy FavoriteStorytellingTeenageAmerican MovieArsesAmerican FilmElmo Author:James McAvoy
“The funny thing is, I've never really hurt myself in an action movie. I've done 'Wanted,' 'X-Men,' 'Welcome To The Punch,' even 'Trance' to a certain extent has little bits of action and stuff, but I've never really hurt myself at all - not even like a sprained ankle.” MenLittlesDoneActionWantedCertainStuffBitsHurtLittle BitWelcomeFunny ThingsX MenAction MovieAnklesTrance Author:James McAvoy
“There's something about Michael J. Fox that I loved when he did all the '80s stuff. His way of performing all the physicality, which is why it's so tragic now, but the way he used his body so much as well, I loved.” WayWellsBodyUsedStuffPerformingTragicFoxes80sPhysicalityMichael J Fox Author:James McAvoy
“I kind of embarked on a fruitless search to find information about my character, Frederick Aiken. And it was fruitless, unfortunately, because there's so little about him.” KindLittlesCharacterInformation Author:James McAvoy
“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.” ChildrenPlayCharacterJobsLiteratureChanceMy FavoriteI Loved YouNarniaChildren's LiteratureFavorite Characters Author:James McAvoy
“I was talking to one of my aunties at Christmas and she said she didn’t think it was ever in my nature to go against the grain, that I was always a good boy. I think she was right - I did always want to be good.” ThinkingWantSaidTalkingBoysBe GoodGrainGood Boy Author:James McAvoy
“We're in a horrible, repugnant place now where kids are told it's their right and due to be hugely famous. Not good at their job, not good at anything, just hugely famous. This is not sane. Little girls think they'll be famous if they have vast breast implants and might as well die if they don't.” IfsThinkingWellsLittlesMightKidsJobsDiesGirlDuesHorribleBreastsSaneImplantsBreast Implants Author:James McAvoy
“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.” PlayWantedFilmFireGrewHeroTenGrew UpInspiredClubsBreakfastUnderdogStartersElmo Author:James McAvoy
“I'm probably more dangerous in a car than I am on a motorbike; on a bike I'm very mindful of the fact that if you make a mistake you're dead.” IfsFactsMistakeDangerousCarBikeMotorbike Author:James McAvoy
“The world seemed less scary and I started to like myself a little bit more.” WorldLittlesBitsLittle BitScary Author:James McAvoy
“A cry-wanking scene is the struggle to live, in a single moment.” MomentsStruggleCrySceneSingle Mom Author:James McAvoy
“The minute you start to strategize too much, the more you start to think you're in control of your own fate. And you're not, really.” ThinkingToo MuchFateMinutes Author:James McAvoy
“Leading man seems to quite often be an idealized figure.” MenSeemsFiguresOften Is Author:James McAvoy
“That's the main thing that attracts me - characters who have big journeys. I like playing those people.” PeopleCharacterBigsJourney Author:James McAvoy
“Next year, if no one gives me any work, that's fine. I'm not going to do well anyway. I'm not an actor, I'm just exploiting this industry.” IfsGivingYearsWellsNextActorsFineIndustryGive MeNext Year Author:James McAvoy
“I think I'm losing my hair finally. And, yeah, that's kind of all I know.” ThinkingKnowsKindHairLosingYeah Author:James McAvoy
“[Macbeth] is historically set in a place depicted by Shakespeare as brutal and violent, incredibly superstitious, and that's something that I do believe is Scottish.” BelieveViolentBrutalScotlandScottishSuperstitiousScots Author:James McAvoy
