Profile photo of James McAvoy

James McAvoy

James McAvoy (born April 21, 1979) is a Scottish actor. 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. His notable television work includes the thriller State of Play, science fiction miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune and the channel 4s BAFTA award-winning series Shameless (British TV series) 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. 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. This was followed by a supporting role, as the faun Mr. Tumnus, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). 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. The critically acclaimed romantic drama war film Atonement (2007) earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination. He later appeared as a newly trained assassin in the action thriller Wanted (2008). 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). McAvoy starred in the crime comedy-drama film Filth (2013), for which he won Best Actor in the British Independent Film Awards. In 2016, he portrayed Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 23 alternate personalities, in M. Night Shyamalan's Split, for which he received critical acclaim, and later reprised the role for the sequel Glass (2019). Since 2019, he has portrayed Lord Asriel Belacqua in the BBC/HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials.

Filmography

2025
Pose

as Thomas

Movie
2024
Speak No Evil

as Paddy

Movie
2019
It Chapter Two

as Bill Denbrough

Movie
2019
Dark Phoenix

as Charles Xavier / Professor X

Movie
2019
Glass

as Patricia / Dennis / Hedwig / The Beast / Barry / Heinrich / Jade / Ian / Mary Reynolds / Norma / Jalin / Kat / B.T. / Kevin Wendell Crumb / Mr. Pritchard / Felida / Luke / Goddard / Samuel / Polly

Movie
2017
Split

as Dennis / Patricia / Hedwig / The Beast / Kevin Wendell Crumb / Barry / Orwell / Jade

Movie
2016
X-Men: Apocalypse

as Professor Charles Xavier

Movie
2014
X-Men: Days of Future Past

as Charles Xavier

Movie
2013
Filth

as Bruce

Movie
2011
Arthur Christmas

as Arthur (voice)

Movie
2011
X-Men: First Class

as Charles Xavier

Movie
2008
Wanted

as Wesley Gibson

Movie
2007
Becoming Jane

as Tom Lefroy

Movie
2007
Atonement

as Robbie Turner

Movie
2005
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

as Mr. Tumnus

Movie
2018
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer

as Self - Guest

TV Show
2007
The Graham Norton Show

as Self - Guest

TV Show