James McAvoy

Date: December 30, 2004 Publication: Times Online Country: United Kingdom Author: Joe Joseph Excerpt: One of the charms of Paul Abbott’s hypnotic, exhilarating series Shameless is that it lifted young actors such as McAvoy, 25, firmly into the vision of audiences who might not have spotted some of his lower-profile appearances.

The full article... One of the charms of Paul Abbott’s hypnotic, exhilarating series Shameless is that it lifted young actors such as McAvoy, 25, firmly into the vision of audiences who might not have spotted some of his lower-profile appearances. Raised lovingly by feisty grandparents in a working-class district of Glasgow, McAvoy has not been out of work since leaving the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama after two years as a trainee baker at Sainsbury’s. Apart from his role as wheeler-dealing Steve in Shameless, you might have spotted McAvoy on TV in Band of Brothers and White Teeth. He played Lord Simon Balcairn in Stephen Fry’s film Bright Young Things, as well as Paul Bettany’s cartoonish kid brother in Wimbledon and a young Irishman living with muscular dystrophy in Inside I’m Dancing. McAvoy has spent large slices of the past year in New Zealand shooting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which he plays Mr Tumnus, the faun. Oh, and did I mention, the sight of him makes women’s knees clack like castanets? [full-link]Read more •[/full-link]