James McAvoy is an actor from Scotland who has been in the entertainment industry for more than two decades. He began his career as a stage actor before transitioning to film and television roles, and he quickly rose to stardom with performances such as Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia series, and Kevin Crumb/The Beast in Split (2016).
McAvoy was born on April 21st 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland to Elizabeth Johnston and James McAvoy Sr., but he was raised by his grandparents due to his parents’ divorce when he was seven. He attended St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School where he first developed an interest in acting at age 16 while performing a play adaptation of Romeo & Juliet. After graduating high school at 17, McAvoy moved to London where he trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama – now known as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – for three years until 2000 when he landed his first professional role as Josh Moore on Channel 4’s Upright drama series.
In 2003, McAvoy made his big screen debut playing Steve McBride opposite Angelina Jolie’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life before gaining international recognition for portraying Mr Tumnus alongside Liam Neeson’s Aslan character in 2005’s The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe which kickstarted Disney’s successful fantasy adventure trilogy based on C.S Lewis’ novel series ‘The Chronicles Of Narnia’. This performance won him numerous awards including Best Performance By A Younger Actor at MTV Movie Awards 2006; this success led other major Hollywood productions such as Wanted (2008), where he plays Wesley Gibson alongside Morgan Freeman; Atonement (2007) co-starring Keira Knightley; X-Men First Class (2011); Filth (2013); Victor Frankenstein (2015) with Daniel Radcliffe; M Night Shyamalan’s thriller Split starring Bruce Willis; Atomic Blonde starring Charlize Theron released 2017 among many others that have earned him widespread critical acclaim over the years.
McAvoy currently lives between London and Los Angeles with wife Anne-Marie Duff whom they married back 2009 after meeting during their time together filming Shameless UK tv show back 2004; they share one son Brendan from their 10 year marriage which ended summer 2016 citing irreconcilable differences according to court documents filed July 22nd 2016.
In addition to being involved with several charities like UNICEF UK Children In Need along side fellow actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne among others, James is also keenly interested about environmental issues having become ambassador for WWF conservation efforts since 2013.
He attended Catholic school, where he says he was often bullied. After graduating from high school, he worked as a barman and as a dishwasher before beginning his acting career.
James McAvoy made his film debut in “The Near Room” (1995), and his television debut in “Rebus” (2000). He has since appeared in a number of films and television series, including “Shameless” (2004), “The Last King of Scotland” (2006), “Atonement” (2007), “Wanted” (2008), “X-Men: First Class” (2011) and “Trance” (2013).
In addition to his film and television roles, James McAvoy has also appeared on stage in a number of productions, including “Macbeth” (2007) and “Frankenstein” (2011).
