# James McAvoy - man, this guy gets to play iconic characters a lot

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** movies, actor-characters\
**Created:** [October 1, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530 "2022-10-01T02:13:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/1 "2022-10-01T02:13:46Z")

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I don’t know if iconic is the right term, but James McAvoy really lands the big famous roles from famous books and comics. Here is a list of roles he has played.

**Mr. Tumnus – Narnia** \<-Famous series, probably pushing it to call the role iconic

**Leto II – Dune**

**Professor X – X-men**

**Lord Asriel – His Dark Materials**

**Dream(Morpheus) – The Sandman(audio)**

Dream was only in the audible version of Sandman, but getting to play Leto II, Professor X, and Lord Asriel is kind of a lot for one actor.

To be fair, he is very good. But he really has some connections or something.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/2 "2022-10-01T09:36:09Z")

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They’re all in very similar genres, almost a niche market, so it wouldn’t be surprising if producers and directors of something similar thought of him.

But he has also done a lot of other things:

> **[James McAvoy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McAvoy)**
>
> James McAvoy (/ˈmækəvɔɪ/; born 21 April 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 4 BAFTA Award-winning series Shameless.
> He has performed in several West End productions and has received four nominations for the Laurence Olivie...

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2022, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/3 "2022-10-01T10:04:57Z")

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He also played a lot of characters in _Split_.

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**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/4 "2022-10-03T20:34:54Z")

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I think he’s awesome and I didn’t even know most of the things you mentioned at the top. I knew X-men of course. McAvoy has been in many great movies.

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/5 "2022-10-03T20:39:47Z")

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I wish I could see him in more roles with his native Glaswegian accent. I love that accent and I don’t get enough of it.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/6 "2022-10-04T11:36:52Z")

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> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> his native Glaswegian accent. I love that accent and I don’t get enough of it.

There are Glaswegian accents and… these:

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/T_Lk7qivXbw/hqdefault.jpg "Stanley Baxter - Parliamo Glasgow - Mia Farra's farra, the marra & the barra") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Lk7qivXbw)

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lc4gB89LN7o/maxresdefault.jpg "Council Drinks | Rab C. Nesbitt | The Scottish Comedy Channel") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc4gB89LN7o)

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**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/7 "2022-10-14T03:00:38Z")

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And of course his Glaswegian air-traffic controller bit on SNL. But the most impressive thing of his I’ve seen is the young fictitious doctor co-starring with Forrest Whitaker’s amazing (and Oscar-winning) Idi Amin in _The Last King of Scotland_.

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/james-mcavoy-man-this-guy-gets-to-play-iconic-characters-a-lot/972530/8 "2022-10-14T03:10:29Z")

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He’s certainly had an interesting career. I like and appreciate that he’s willing to take off the wall roles.