In 2001, the actor appeared as Private James W. He starred in Privates on Parade in the Donmar Warehouse, this time catching Sam Mendes' attention. McAvoy kept declining them, however, and it was not until six years later that the two worked together. In 2001, McAvoy's performance as a gay hustler in the play Out in the Open impressed director Joe Wright so much that Wright began offering McAvoy parts in his films. Throughout the early 2000s, he made guest appearances in television shows and began working in film. McAvoy graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2000. He continued to act while still a member of PACE Youth Theatre. He later admitted that he was not very interested in acting when joining the film, but was inspired to study acting after developing feelings for his co-star, Alana Brady. McAvoy's acting debut came at the age of 15 years in The Near Room (1995). After graduating in 2000, he moved to London. McAvoy applied to join the Royal Navy and had already been accepted when he was also offered a place to study acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). During his education, he worked at a local bakery. In a 2006 interview, McAvoy said he considered becoming a priest as a child because it seemed to be a way to explore the world via missionary work. He attended the Catholic St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in the Jordanhill area of Glasgow and briefly considered joining the priesthood. He has not been in contact with his father since childhood. McAvoy has a younger sister named Joy and a younger half-brother named Donald.
His mother lived with them intermittently. McAvoy's mother suffered from poor health and subsequently sent him to live with his maternal grandparents, Mary and James Johnstone, in the nearby Drumchapel area of Glasgow. His parents separated when he was seven and divorced when he was eleven. and psychiatric nurse Elizabeth (née Johnstone died 2018). McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, to bus-driver-turned-builder James McAvoy Sr.
Since 2019, he has portrayed Lord Asriel Belacqua in the BBC/ HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials. Night Shyamalan's Split, for which he received critical acclaim, and later reprised the role for the sequel Glass (2019). In 2016, he portrayed Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 23 alternate personalities, in M. McAvoy starred in the crime comedy-drama film Filth (2013), for which he won Best Actor in the British Independent Film Awards. In 2011, McAvoy portrayed Professor Charles Xavier in the superhero film X-Men: First Class, a role he reprised in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Dark Phoenix (2019). He later appeared as a newly trained assassin in the action thriller Wanted (2008). The critically acclaimed romantic drama war film Atonement (2007) earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination.
His performance in Kevin Macdonald's drama The Last King of Scotland (2006) garnered him several award nominations, including the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. Tumnus, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). This was followed by a supporting role, as the faun Mr. In 2003, McAvoy appeared in a lead role in Bollywood Queen, then in another lead role as Rory in Inside I'm Dancing in 2004. He has performed in several West End productions and has received four nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, and has also done voice work for animated films including Gnomeo & Juliet, its sequel Sherlock Gnomes, and Arthur Christmas. His notable television work includes the thriller State of Play and the science fiction miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. He made his acting debut as a teen in The Near Room (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his feature film career began. James McAvoy ( / ˈ m æ k ə v ɔɪ/ born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor.