Now chatting in-depth with
Collider, Scottish actor James McAvoy now discusses his 'Charles Xavier' role in
X-Men: First Class, elaborating the overall "rushed" experience, parts he favored, as well those he thought was tough playing such an iconic character. Also sharing how he thinks it'll turn out with Matthew Vaughn's (
Kick-Ass) directorship, read on below.
What is it like to do X-Men: First Class and have such a quick turn-around, since the film is due out on June 3rd?
"I don’t think I’ve ever made such a big movie, in such a short period of time. It’s nuts, really. But, we’re getting it done. No movie has ever got enough time. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, and it doesn’t matter how much money you’ve not got. You never finish on time. You’re always up against it and you’re always working up until the end. To get three days off the schedule to come and do [press for Gnomeo & Juliet] is a nice break ‘cause it is just [non-stop], all the time. But then, that’s what it is with every single movie I’ve ever been on. It just feels like the usual. It’s more about whether they can get it ready in time for the release date. They’re working on the editing now, and they’re working on the special effects now. They’ve got a big department working 24/7 on it."
From what you were told about the film to how it’s turning out, how does it compare?
"It’s pretty much what I thought it would be when (director) Matthew [Vaughn] took me through it all. He really wanted to play off the ‘60s setting of it, and play off the style of that, visually, in the design of the costumes and all that, which we totally got. And, he wanted us to be really free, in terms of characterization, and was confident in taking it as far away from the original characters, not as we could, but as we thought was right. We’ve really done that quite a lot. Otherwise, there’s no point in doing a prequel, if they’re just the exact same people. They’ve got to be very different, otherwise there is no journey. This story is all about that journey to showing the seeds of how they are in the other X-Men movies, and to show what could have been between Erik and Charles – or Professor X and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) – and to show why it couldn’t be."
What’s been the toughest part about playing such a popular character?
"The toughest part is probably that I’ve got a great superpower and, if you had it in real life, it would be amazing, but in a movie, everybody else is bouncing off the walls and shooting [frick]ing beams of light out of their chest and doing crazy stuff and making things fly around, and I’m [putting my finger to my forehead]. It just feels a little bit like, “Oh, god!” But, what’s nice is that it means I have less CGI and stunt work to do, which means I have more time in my bed. That’s the thing. I look at all the other people using their superpowers and I’m like, “That would have been fun!”
What’s been the best part of this gig?
"The best part about it, for me so far, is that I really love the cast. The cast has just been incredible. We’ve had a lot of fun, actually. I’ve loved working with [Michael] Fassbender. I think he’s great. I’m so glad that we got to collaborate on something. But, just from top to bottom, the cast is amazing. Having Kevin Bacon play your baddie is great. It’s a great, slightly left-field piece of casting as well. I don’t think anybody expected that. Hopefully, that’s a clue as to what the movie will be."
Do you know what you’re going to do after X-Men: First Class? Are you looking to do something a bit smaller in scale?
"Yeah, I think I’ll be doing something a little smaller, but I don’t know what that will be yet. It won’t be for a little while. I’m going to take a little bit of time. I might do some theater, or something like that. There are a couple of movies in the pipeline for the second half of the next year, but not solidified yet, so I can’t really say what. There are plans, but nothing I’m willing to say yes to just yet."
While currently under-going filming and editing in unison, that seems to be FOX's master plan to meet the slated June 3 release for the Matthew Vaughn-directed
X-Men: First Class prequel. What do you think?