James McAvoy

James McAvoy
McAvoy at Hollywood Life Magazine’s 7th Annual Breakthrough Awards
Birth name	James Andrew McAvoy
Born	April 21 1979 (age 29) Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Years active	1995 - present
Spouse(s)	Anne-Marie Duff (2006-)
Awards BAFTA Awards Rising Star Award 2006 Best Actor - Scotland 2006 The Last King of Scotland

James Andrew McAvoy (born 21 April 1979^[1]) is a Scottish stage and screen actor best known for his starring roles in Atonement, The Last King of Scotland, and the 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.^[2][3] His sister, Joy McAvoy, is a singer.^[4] McAvoy's parents divorced when he was seven, and he subsequently lived with his maternal grandparents, Mary and James Johnstone.^[3] He attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, a Catholic school, and considered becoming a priest.^[5][6] 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 Sci Fi Channel miniseries Children of Dune (adapted from Frank Herbert’s novels) which aired in 2003, 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,^[7] but will not take part in the actual film.

He is rumoured to be appearing in the movie Frost Flowers, Channel 4 mini series The Devil's Whore^[8] and starring as Kurt Cobain in an upcoming biopic about the Nirvana singer.^[9]

Personal life

He is married to his Shameless co-star, Anne-Marie Duff. McAvoy enjoys sci fi, and is a fan of Celtic Football Club^{[citation needed]}.

Stage and screen credits

Filmography

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

References

Wikipedia information about James McAvoy This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James McAvoy". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.