NYGossipGirl Exclusive Interview: ‘The Last Station’s’ James McAvoy

NYGossipGirl recently sat down with James McAvoy. The 30-year-old actor talked about his new film, The Last Station, what it was like working with his wife and whether or not there’s going to be a Wanted sequel.

McAvoy plays Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy’s personal secretary, who becomes mixed up in the drama that centers between Tolstoy and his wife Sofya.

“I would lie if I said I was a humongous Tolstoy fan. I never got through “War and Peace” – I got nearly to the end. But I read it because I thought I should, not because I wanted to. I think, I’m probably finally ready to read it. Maybe in five years,” laughed McAvoy.

In The Last Station, McAvoy had a chance to work again with his wife, Anne-Marie Duff who played ­Sasha, Tolstoy’s daughter. They previously worked on a television show called Shameless.

“It was nice to be together. We don’t actually work with each other that much, which allowed us to accept the job together,” said McAvoy. “Because if we had lots and lots of scenes together, that could maybe get difficult.”

Many actors, especially those who portray real-life people, do everything they can to prepare for the role. McAvoy had a chance to know exactly how his character felt first-hand.

“My main source of information was unparallel then anything I ever had as an actor, it was incredible. I had the direct link to what Valentin thought,” stated McAvoy. “He was a real person and in the film we show that he kept 5,000 diaries and he did keep one that was his own. I know how he felt when Countess Sofya Tolstoy climbed the balcony, and I played it, because 10 minutes after that happened, he wrote down how it made him feel. I mean I never had that [kind of] connection to a character before. It almost made it too easy. It was lovely to have that direct link to somebody.”

(Read more after the jump!)

When he first began his acting career, he was told that he wouldn’t find much work, but unlike others who left Scotland to pursue their dreams elsewhere, McAvoy stayed and acted in plays, which helped jump-start his career.

“My game plan was entirely dealing with rejection and being cool with that. I was bitterly told that I wouldn’t work that much because most actors don’t and I’m lucky that it didn’t work out that way for me,” said McAvoy. “One of the things that really helped me out was that when I left drama school, there were hardly any actors under the age of 25 in Scotland. All the young men had gone ‘Look at Ewan McGregor, I’m off to London and Hollywood to go make it too.’ So there was a death of young leads in Scottish theater. So me and a couple of mates cleaned up for a whole year and a half and it really set me on a path.”

McAvoy, who was in one of the biggest blockbusters, Wanted, is not sure if there’s going to be a sequel and is waiting for Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov to let him know.

“I don’t know anything. I got a phone call from Timur just after New Year’s Eve and he didn’t even talk about the film,” laughed McAvoy. “He just said he’ll talk to me in a couple of weeks about the film, so God knows what’s happening.”

Posted: January 20th, 2010 under Celebrity Interviews, Movies.
Tags: James McAvoy

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