Born in Glasgow in 1979, James McAvoy was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Drumchapel after his mother suffered from poor health following her divorce from her husband.
He was educated at St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in the Jordanhill area of the city and briefly considered becoming a priest, but instead opted to join the Royal Navy.
He changed his mind when he was offered a place at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before moving to London to pursue an acting career.
It didn’t take him long to find success in television, with early roles in the likes of State of Play, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, and Shameless.
His big screen breakthrough came playing Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005.
He has since gone on to star in a string of hit films including Wanted, The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, the X-Men series, Filth, Split, Glass and It Chapter Two.
He’s also had a recent telvision hit in the form of His Dark Materials, and has also had success on the stage, receiving four Olivier nominations for best actor, most recently for playing the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac in 2020.
And this year has seen him wi more acclaim, for his perfomance in horror film Speak No Evil.
Here are 13 interesting things he’s said in interview.
He changed his mind when he was offered a place at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before moving to London to pursue an acting career.
13. James McAvoy on...marriage
"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.'" | Getty Images for IMDb