Watch: James McAvoy and Wife Lisa Liberati Privately Welcomed Baby Boy
James McAvoy salutes the series, not the man.
The 47-year-old shared insight into his one-episode arc on the 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers—which marked his first job as a professional actor—stating he was bullied by one of the show’s stars.
“So, I’m not going to tell you who it was,” McAvoy cautioned during his Oct. 12 appearance on Watch What Happens Live, before adding, “On my first day on set, there was like a ton of actors. It was one of those scenes with everybody in it and we’re all in a bar.”
But whereas many of the actors on the show filmed for months at a time, only to have a one or two lines, McAvoy noted, “I come in for one episode, and I’ve got like an arc and scenes. I’ve got tons of lines.”
Which, according to the Atonement actor, did not sit well with one of the regular actors—one he said was pictured in a cast photo WWHL used in the segment.
“One of the guys in that picture decided to bully me on my first day as a professional actor out of acting school,” McAvoy continued. “He got him and his buddies to just stand, point at me and laugh at me for like three minutes.”
But thankfully, some of the band rose to the title of “brother.”
“Dexter Fletcher, who now is a great director as well, and a lovely Scottish actor called Robin Laing,” McAvoy recalled, “they took me aside and they were like, ‘Come hang with us, man.’”
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So, given that the WWHL segment asked the Split star to rate his experience on the show, he added, “I’d say apart from that day, it was a nine. But that day, it felt like a two.”
But while host Andy Cohen and fellow guest Peter Krause expressed curiosity, McAvoy confirmed he’d let them guess but wouldn’t confirm which actor gave him the hard time.
He was clear, however, that “it wasn’t David Schwimmer.”
As for an on set experience he’d rate a perfect 10? Look no further than the closest wardrobe: McAvoy said his time as Mr. Tumnus in 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia was a dream.
“I played the weird horny goat guy,” he joked, before adding, “I loved Georgie [Henley] who played Lucy. We got on really well, and I hung out with her and her family a lot. And I had like six months in New Zealand with 28 days’ work. So, I just went hiking and camping.”
As he put it, “It was awesome.”
And though McAvoy is keeping the details of his Band of Brothers bullying private, he isn’t the only celebrity to get candid in front of a camera. Read on for more Hollywood confessions.
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