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October 6, 2006
James McAvoy an actor to remember
By JANE STEVENSON - Toronto Sun
Remember the name James McAvoy. Best known as Mr. Tunmnus -- the Faun -- from last year's huge hit The Chronicles Of Narnia, the Scottish actor is about to star in a slew of new films, which have won him a fast-rising reputation. At the Toronto International Film Festival last month he had three movies -- The Last King Of Scotland, Penelope and Starter For Ten. Still to come are Becoming Jane (opposite Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen) and Atonement (opposite Keira Knightly "as a total uber-bitch," in an adaptation of an Ian McEwan novel about a man wrongly accused of rape). What's more, he begins filming the sci-fi flick Wanted in March. Just as McAvoy arrived for the fest, he was called Britain's "It Actor" of the moment by Variety, not that he knows what to make of such pronouncements. "That's very nice of them," said McAvoy, 27. "It's very flattering, it's also very unsettling and I do not pay much attention to it. I need to react as if that means nothing, because I might not work for another three years and I'll get really depressed if I believe all the hype." McAvoy, who is engaged to British actress Anne-Marie Duff (The Magdelene Sisters), seems determined to keep his feet on the ground. When asked if he understands being seduced by power -- as his doctor character is by Forest Whitaker's Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland -- the actor offers up a promising response in this era of celebrity-drenched culture. "The power that I wield is not that big, and I don't know if actors deserve too much power," he said. "It's weird, the amount of power actors have. It's a bit of a weird situation. "I hope I never get power in any way. You just need power in your own home and in your own life. I'm happy to be a soldier and be told what to do." |
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