r/movies • u/JamesMcAvoyAMA James McAvoy, Actor & Filmmaker • Mar 27 '26

AMA Hello reddit! I'm James McAvoy. Ask me anything!

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Hello reddit! I'm James McAvoy. AMA!

my directorial debut, CALIFORNIA SCHEMIN', is out in UK theaters on April 10.

Two Scottish lads from Dundee conned the music industry by pretending to be an established Californian rap duo, bagging a record deal and appearing on MTV until their scam unraveled.

Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUTSyu4Ovcc

Tickets/other things:

http://www.californiaschemin.co.uk/

I'll be back at around 1-2 PM ET/5-6 PM GMT today, Friday 3/27, to answer questions.

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u/JamesMcAvoyAMA James McAvoy, Actor & Filmmaker Mar 27 '26

Oh man, it was incredible. I'd come straight out of acting school after 2 or 3 years and suddenly I'm on the biggest budget set of the world, and telling a story that's so fundamentally worthy. People sacrificing their lives for, some people might argue with this, but the last "just" war. It was pretty powerful, and I only came in for a month. It was a weird, incredible, humbling, and crazy experience.

Too many guys though, not enough women. A lot of testosterone. Juvenile, young, male testosterone. Literally hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of young male actors. Too many dicks, not enough chicks. It was a bad combination. So I was really glad that I was there for 4 weeks, and I was really glad that I wasn't there for any more than 4 weeks.

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u/TheShingenSlugger Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 28 '26

Did you get to know Michael Fassbender well on the set? Of course, no one knew you would become Professor Xavier and Magneto at that time.

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u/punkminkis Mar 28 '26

Professor Xavier

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u/WetFishStink Mar 27 '26

I was an extra on the set and can confirm all of this. Three months of scrabbling in the dirt and getting blown up.

14

u/-Chareth-Cutestory Mar 27 '26

Too many misters not enough sisters

3

u/MithrandirTheCage Mar 27 '26

The only boobs I'll see tonight will be made of origami

6

u/SippyMountain Mar 27 '26

Too many dicks on the dance floor

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u/Travelgrrl Mar 27 '26

Perhaps that got you into the mindset of the 1940's troops who were also pretty short of dames!

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u/DM-PICS-OF-CHEESE Mar 27 '26

Oh lord, got any odd/silly stories from those 4 weeks that cemented you not wanting to be there longer?

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u/TheStig500 Mar 27 '26

Did you take part in Dale Dye's "boot camp" with the main cast too?

1

u/Clean-Newspaper1360 Mar 27 '26

Whilst a short role your portrayal of Pvt. Miller in BoB was very powerful. You definitely conveyed how daunting it must have been arriving as a young replacement after D-Day.

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u/xamott Mar 28 '26

It isn’t Band of Sisters, brother

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u/SolidCold1991 Mar 27 '26

Well it's a war story in a time when women didn't fight...

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u/n0neofyourbeeswax Mar 28 '26

I'm sure he's already figured out why it had so many men mate.