Mmmm, James McAvoy. James M--well, you know... the faun "Mr. Tumnus" from The Chronicles of Narnia. Not that I'm a furry (or whatever they're called) but that's when I, personally, first took notice of this Scottish charmer. Post-Narnia it's getting hard not noticing him. His name is popping up with deserved frequency in casting rumors. I say deserved because if you've caught any of his work you'll undoubtedly want to see more of him. And you will. You'll see lots more of him, in fact, in The Last King of Scotland. That buzzing film, opening September 27th, will certainly make an Oscar nominee of Forest Whitaker who kills in the role of brutal Idi Amin, the infamous Ugandan president. But McAvoy also gets quite a workout onscreen as Amin's personal doctor. And I don't just mean in his scenes with Whitaker which have a completely charged physicality to them: even when the two men are just talking, no moment is ever played safe, every hug or back slap feels like it could go horribly wrong. McAvoy's doctor is also seen running around, firing a gun, practicing extreme medicine, playing sports with Ugandan children, and rutting like a damn fool every chance he gets. And the rutting is often very very foolish. You'll see.
McAvoy has such an easy physicality in this picture that I wasn't surprised at all to read that he is abundantly physical in real life. He's a trained gymnast and boxer. I never saw the Children of Dune miniseries but apparently that role was also athletic. And shirtless.
McAvoy might well be the sexiest Scotsman since Ewan Macgregor. Or maybe he's the sexy Scottish version of Tobey Maguire. Not altogether ungeeky, but still potently erotic: a pleasing combo.
After Scotland you'll be able to catch McAvoy in the Christina Ricci film Penelope and next year he'll be seen opposite Anne Hathaway in Becoming Jane, a biopic of Jane Austen, and Keira Knightley in the adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel Atonement.
Previous HDH Entries:
Naomie Harris the pretty chameleon: from Pirates to Miami Vice
Hot on TV a countdown from "Agent Dale Cooper" to "Faith"
Channing Tatum steppin' up and out.
Hugh Jackman dancer, fighter, lover, father, actor, singer, god.
Uma Thurman from Dangerous Liaisons to now: 18 years of hotness.
Cheyenne Jackson from Broadway to Hollywood.
Season One of HDH Gyllenhaal, Gong Li, Bernal, and more...
Tags:
James McAvoy, movies, film, Oscars
