James McAvoy: Growing up on Glasgow council estate 'wasn’t always hard - it was brilliant'

Growing up on a Glasgow council estate “wasn’t always hard - it was brilliant”, Hollywood actor James McAvoy has said, as he received a top award at Glasgow Film Festival.

Mr McAvoy said in his directorial debut, California Schemin’, which he describes as “the most stressful experience of my life”, he had wanted to show a different side of working class life in Scotland.

He told The Scotsman that the film, a musical biopic about Scottish rap duo Silibil N' Brains, had given him a chance to spend more time north of the Border than he had done since he began his acting career.

Speaking about his career to a sell-out audience in an In Conversation session with Edith Bowman at Glasgow Film Theatre, Mr McAvoy, who grew up in Drumchapel, said he had been inundated with gritty scripts about life in working class Scotland.

“Every script I got was ‘Scottish council estate, Scottish council estate, Scottish council estate’,” he said.

“I love stories set in a Scottish council estate, but I’m aware that I want to make films which are entertaining and I don’t want to make something that just says ‘it’s s*** in Scotland, it’s gritty in Scotland and being working class is crap’.”

The actor, who was presented with the Cinema City Honorary Award by the Glasgow Film Festival, added: “I grew up in a Scottish council estate and it wasn’t always hard and it wasn’t always sad. It was brilliant.”

James McAvoy at Glasgow Film Festival. | PA

With post-production work set to be completed in August, California Schemin’, based on Gavin Bain’s autobiography, which was later reprinted as Straight Outta Scotland, is likely to be released next year.

“It’s been the most stressful experience of my life,” he said. “But also the most vital experience and I want to do it again.”

He added: “It was a real eye opener. I’ve been around directors and the process for 30 years, but never been in charge of it, of the whole thing and it’s mental. I can’t just dust my hands off and walk away at the end of the job. It’s a big commitment, but I’m enjoying it.”

He recalled a scene filmed in the Barrowlands, which required a crowd of 2,000.

“I don’t know any other city other than Glasgow where 2,000 people would have shown up,” he said.

“That was really emotional. The energy that Glasgow gave this film was incredible.”

The actor, who was propelled into the limelight when he starred in The Last King of Scotland, in 2006, as a Scottish doctor who becomes the personal physician of Ugandan President Idi Amin, said his latest film had given him a chance to return to his roots.

“I’ve spent a week or two at most at any one given time up here since I was 20, so getting to be here for six months was gorgeous,” he said. “Just being around that many Scottish people at a time, you don’t realise you miss it, but you do.”

He said he would not rule out directing another film in Scotland.

“If I get a good script, then definitely,” he said.

He told the audience that while he was recognised in the US for Hollywood blockbusters such as X Men, in the UK people still remember him best for Atonement, an adaptation of an Ian McEwan novel, which he starred in with Keira Knightley in 2007.

“The fact anyone can still recognise me from Atonement makes me feel good,” said Mr McAvoy, 45.