James McAvoy on his earliest film memories and future directing hopes: 'I was offered a lot of working class Scottish dramas'

Since he began acting in the late '90s, James McAvoy has emerged as one of our most reliably excellent on-screen presences, turning in great performances in everything from The Chronicles of Narnia and Atonement to Split and the X-Men franchise.

But for his latest film project California Schemin', the Scot is taking up a new role behind the camera – serving as the film's director in addition to giving himself one of the movie's most entertaining supporting roles.

The film tells the true – though at times unbelievable – story of Scottish rap duo Silibil N’ Brains, who made it pretty big in the music industry after posing as Americans in order to trick record label executives into giving them a chance in the early '00s.

To mark the release, Radio Times spoke to McAvoy for our Film Flashbacks series – discussing everything from his very first film memories to what led him to think about directing and his hopes for further projects at the helm.

You can check out the full interview below.

What are your earliest memories of watching films – of being a child growing up and learning about film?

My earliest memory of film was probably... I sound so serious (laughs). My earliest memory of film... I was watching a Kurosawa. No it was very much the opposite. It was like watching Digby, the Biggest Dog on Earth or something like that at a Saturday morning film club in Ashton Lane [in Glasgow] where your parents would come and like, take you and leave you, and there'd be like five 30-minute movies and cartoons and you got a bag of sweeties and just mayhem with kids fighting, and doing hide and seek and just general pugilism... and that was my earliest memory.

My earliest memory of like proper cinema, I think it's Jim Cameron's Terminator. When I was about five and watching that... me and my sister watching Terminator, I'd say those are my two formative memories of cinema. But the things that really formed me are, like, comedies weirdly. Eighties comedies. My granny and my great-grandmother and my grandpa, and I would watch a lot of eighties comedies.

 This is your first film as director. Do you remember first becoming aware of film directors and what they do?

No. To be honest with you, no. I've tried to remain sort of immune to it – and I managed to do that as an actor. Because I hear so many people say like, 'Oh, I can't watch stuff the same way I used to and I don't enjoy movies the way I used to.' And I was like, 'I don't want that to happen to me.'

So I've weirdly tried not to become too technical and learn too much. I have learned lots. I know tons. But I've never tried to study it. And what I liked about my experience as a director – and you can argue with this when you see the film, you might say, 'Didn't work, mate!' – but I managed to be super prepared. You can't make a low budget independent film without being incredibly well prepared. Or you can, it would just be really bad or you'll miss opportunities.

But I was still able to kind of feel my way through it. I was as prepared as I could be, but there was still space to be prepared. And I think sometimes when we study film like it is the end goal, we sort of deify the art form in a way that... The end goal is not to make a great film. The end goal is to tell a really good story.

And you can do that anyway. You can do that on radio and TV and in person, one to one in the pub. You don't need to make a film. So what are we doing? We're telling stories. And so that's the end goal. And that's the thing I'm a student of is telling stories. And I'm trying not to be a student of film.

In terms of your very early acting days, your first acting credit was The Near Room in 1995. What do you remember about first going on film sets?

Man, it's mental. Like I'd never done a single bit of acting before in my life. I'd never done any drama club, no theatre group, no youth theatre, nothing. And I'm on a film set about child prostitution and pornography in Glasgow. And you're like, 'And go actor.' Do you know what I mean?

Like, the word action gets shouted and you're like... suddenly, you somehow kind of know what to do. It was mental. I don't think I'm very good in that film. But David Hayman, our director... actor, producer, philanthropist, all round, kind of renaissance man in Scotland, really if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be acting.

Anyway, mental environment to be in. Day one. I'm playing this guy who's obsessed with Muhammad Ali, and I have to punch Adrian Dunbar, the actor, and I hit him for real on day one 'cause I was like, 'Well, I've never acted before. I dunno how to throw a stage punch!'. And I didn't knock him out or anything like that, but I did knock him.

 In that first decade of your career, what do you consider as major turning points – or films where you thought, 'I know what I'm doing now'?

It's a tricky... it's a treacherous one, isn't it? 'Cause the minute you go, 'Yeah, I feel at home'... you may be too much at home. You don't work at home, you know what I mean? You work outside your front door. You leave home to go to work.

The first time I felt kind of like secure, like 'Maybe I've kind of like got a handhold in this industry' was probably about 26, 27. Kind of like after Wanted had come out, Wanted and Atonement had been out. And I was like, I don't feel secure, but I feel like I'm holding on tight. I've got somewhere to put my feet and somewhere to put my hands. But you might not, next time there's an earthquake. Do you know what I mean?

I'm starting to feel sometimes... and this is in the right part, when you're well cast, I'm starting to feel comfortable as a performer. But that's maybe a sign that I shouldn't be doing it.

Is that part of the reason why you thought now was the time to try your hand at directing?

Absolutely, a hundred percent.

 When did you start thinking that directing was something that you wanted to try?

Really early. I worked with some first time directors when I was younger and it was really... it didn't take a very experienced eye to see that there was mistakes being made. Or not necessarily mistakes because it's art, there are no mistakes, is there? But decisions where you're like, 'I wouldn't do that.' Or you know, there's an opportunity that's gone by, a great opportunity and we missed it.

So all that's happening and it makes you think you know what you're doing. So I thought 'I could direct and I'll do it.' And I remember being on set when I was 16 and thinking like, 'Oh, I would do this and I wonder why he's putting the camera there. I'd be doing this.' It's very easy to sort of see what other people are doing wrong and think you know how to do it.

And then you work with somebody who's really good. And you know, it's really good and it feels amazing and the show is great, or the movie is great and it's magical and like 'This is the best thing I've ever done.' But it's like magic. I can't see the trick. I can't see what it is. So trying to emulate people who aren't very good is easy. Trying to emulate people who are brilliant is harder, and it gave me pause.

I should have probably done it in my thirties, but my acting career was going nicely and I was earning good money and I don't really earn any money as a director yet. So that was enticing to stay away from it. But it feels like I need to... you know, I'm 30 years into my career. I can't imagine I'm going to only act for the rest of my life.

Even if it's not directing, I'm like, I dunno, do I have a cafe or something like that? I just need to do something else in my life as well.

 Within your career, you've done different types of films, different genres. You've done big franchise stuff and smaller, independent stuff. Would you consider having that same breadth as a director? Would you be interested in, for example, going into a big film franchise as a director?

I wouldn't just answer that question by saying 'Yes, I would.' Because yes, I would like to have the same breadth of sort of artistic dexterity that I've been afforded and allowed, which not a lot of actors do, in my acting career.

I'd like to be able to do different genres and different things. When I'd said I wanted to be a director, I was very fortunate to be offered tons of working class Scottish dramas, which is interesting 'cause I've not played a lot of working class Scottish people, maybe like four in my entire career.

But I guess the industry tells you what you are. Working class Scottish stuff that is depressing and about alcoholics, right? And that's what I got offered. Now I've done a working class, Scottish musical biopic, maybe I'll just get lots of musical biopics. Do you know what I mean? It's kind of like that. It's sort of like the industry kinda goes, 'Oh, you're that guy.'

I've managed to not be that in my acting career, so I'd love to not be that in my directing career. And some of the directors that I really admire – a lot of the directors that I really admire – are eclectic and do have a different styles for different movies.

I can't imagine being one of those directors who has such a strong aesthetic and who's like, I dunno whether it's their macabre sense of like baroque humour... whatever it is, permeates everything they do. That's not ever gonna be me.

California Schemin' is now showing in UK cinemas.

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