James McAvoy: Atonement's Soldier Boy

In the new wartime romance Atonement, poor James McAvoy's character Robbie can't get a break! Robbie, the humble but bright son of a housekeeper, is hot for Cecelia (Keira Knightley), a hoity-toity, upper crusty rich socialite in the house, make that mansion, where his mom works. But, love conquers all, for a time, and she is his! Of course lies, war and fate intervene. If you were lucky (cuz he's very good) you caught James opposite Oscar-winner Forrest Whitaker in The King of Scotland and as a young man juggling two girls in the college romantic comedy Starter for Ten. He also donned a goat-like costume to play the Faun Mr. Tumnus in the "Narnia" film.

We chatted with this ultra-talented hottie recently about his arduous work in the movie, how emotionally-tied to his character he became and how he and pals celebrated... a bit too much, after one particularly difficult scene! Picture striking blue eyes, dapper blue suit jacket over white shirt and that delightful Scottish accent.

TeenHollywood: Keira told us that she read the book after being given the part. Same for you?

James: I was given the book to read after my screen test and my first audition. I just said to Joe [Wright, the director] 'There's no way I'm reading this until you give me the part because I already am desperately involved with this character, and should you not give me the part it's going to be hard enough without reading this epically beautiful novel, which would only make it more harrowing should I not get the part'. I said, 'give me the part and I'll read the bloody book, and you can pay for the book' [he laughs] I think I waited about 3.5 weeks and they finally came and offered me the part.

TeenHollywood: Ah ha.. Smart. So you figured out this Hollywood system?

James: Yes. Hey, I'm Scottish! I get everything I can for free. No, I'm joking.

TeenHollywood: Is the book very different?

James: No, it's incredibly similar. The end is executed a bit differently, but what comes out is the same.

TeenHollywood: What grabbed you about the character of Robbie?

James: His humanity, his respect, his empathy for those around him, his ability to put himself in someone who doesn't like him's shoes. It's his ability to be entirely working class at the same time as living in the upper class environment and not having a chip on his shoulder. He's just about perfect and that, in itself, wouldn't be that interesting, but for the fact that we utterly crucify him. We destroy him completely. We rip him to shreds. And I think that is a harrowing and beautiful experience to watch, always. When people say there are only so many stories that you can tell, this is one of the major ones, humanity destroyed, humanity wronged. And I think it's an uplifting experience, by watching somebody go through something painful, we feel like part of a community. We feel like somebody understands us because that's the human experience. It makes me feel better about the world then. So it's not watching somebody get crucified, it's the understanding of that experience, which heightens it and uplifts.

TeenHollywood: Did you ever write a rather dirty love letter like your character does?

James: [laughs] Yeah, I have written a dirty love letter, but I don't think I've ever posted it though.

TeenHollywood: Keira also said that you got a nice long rehearsal period. Was that a bonding experience for two actors playing a couple in love?

James: We had a three-week rehearsal period, which was invaluable for everybody. We talked and talked and talked, and we danced and danced and danced, and we described each other's characters to each other. I played Keira's character and she played my character and we sat and had a conversation with each other about each other's characters. We just held hands for a long time and tried to connect.

TeenHollywood: Okay, so you are pretending to be Cecelia and she is pretending to be Robbie? How does that help you?

James: It's a way to inform the actor of the way the rest of the world sees you and your character. I have an opinion about the way the world sees me, but it's important for an actor as well to be informed by the rest of the world, not just, 'I'll create how the world sees me'.

TeenHollywood: There is an amazing, very long shot on the beach at Dunkirk with all the World War 2 soldiers waiting to be rescued. Robbie is just wandering through trying to find a place to rest. What was shooting that like for you?

James: It was very evocative and very emotional. We met a couple of veterans from the beaches of Dunkirk that really connected to that time more than any other, I think. I've played a lot of soldiers but this is the first time I met veterans. They told us a lot of funny stories, which are quite revealing, I think. At the end, two of them said, 'when you are making this, just know how terrible it was'. And it cost that guy a lot to say that. He made me hold his hand when he said it, kind of imparted the real emotional truth that I don't think we would have had otherwise. It was very easy to get carried away with the emotion of the day when you are surrounded by that, just the absolute loss that it evokes.

TeenHollywood: Did shooting that scene go on forever?

James: It was a logistical nightmare. We did 3.5 takes. We spent two days rehearsing. One day with 1,000 extras. We only had enough money for one day. It was really a big gamble. It's all or nothing. We could have an incredible shot or we could have no shot whatsoever. 2.5 of the takes were utterly, utterly terrible. They just didn't work. And then the third take we did, we said 'cut', and we thought that was good. That was it, wasn't it? So we all rushed to the monitor to have a look. We looked in the monitor and it didn't work! The connection between the camera and the monitor had broken down. So we had two days of waiting quite anxiously and a little bit depressed, until we finally saw the shot and it worked and we were overjoyed! And all that emotion that we tried to hold back to get the scene done right came out, and there was about 100 of us watching it.

TeenHollywood: I assume you all went out to celebrate?

James: [laughs] We got f**king battered. Quite a lot of us got very drunk, but I woke up in the woods at like seven in the morning. And the birds were tweeting and stuff and it was a really warm day [looking around as if lost]. We kept hearing, (thump, thump, thump). What the hell is that noise? And I realized they were golf balls and we were on a golf course. So that's how relieved we were. We got battered.

TeenHollywood: Were you a little buried in this role? It's very intense. Did you take it home?

James: I love this character deeply. I loved him right from the moment I read it. I got angry about what happens to him right from the beginning. I get quite passionate and quite indignant about the way the world has treated him. I'm not a method actor in any way whatsoever, however I do take it home. You can't not become a little like your characters when you are playing them. And I actively try to separate myself from the rest of the cast sometimes. They all stayed in one house with the director and some of the key crew and I made sure that I stayed separate. I stayed in a little cottage further away.

TeenHollywood: Do you prefer to work in Hollywood or England?

James: I don't know. I've never really done anything in Hollywood. It's always been in Europe, Africa, or New Zealand. I've filmed in America once for two weeks, in Chicago, and that wasn't Hollywood either. It would be nice to try working out here, to see what it's like, to see the difference. I know it's a bigger industry here, but I like the fact that everybody in the industry knows each other back home because it's so small. You feel like a maverick, like you are doing something special, at home, because there is just so little of it. What is amazing about America is that there is so much [filmmaking], and that's brilliant.

TeenHollywood: Are you getting more parts offered to you, especially from America?

James: Yeah, I'm receiving more scripts at the moment. For the first time in my life I've got a bit of choice in what I want to do which is strangely terrifying because if something was bad that I was in before, I was a [working] actor and nobody is going to judge me because you have to work and you take the work where you can find it. But now you have choice over what you do, so if something is bad, well, you chose to do it, mate.

TeenHollywood: What music are you into?

James: I like a bit of folk music, Kate Rusby, I love. Madeline Pritchard, Paolo Nutini, KT Tunstall, Pearl Jam, going back to Queen and Aerosmith and proper rock as well, Rod Stewart, the early years.

TeenHollywood: There are some great performances in this movie. Yours included. Are you looking forward to award shows?

James: Well, I look forward to them if we are involved in them. Otherwise I'll be watching football on the other channel. Yeah, I hope the film gets lots of nominations for different awards. That would be great, but I'm trying not to think about it too much. I think around this time of year actors can get a little tense about the whole thing. I wouldn't lie and say I'm completely unaffected by it, but at the time I am trying to keep a big distance from it. Yeah, it would be wonderful if we all got stuff.

TeenHollywood: Is there a favorite movie that changed your life?

James: I don't know. I don't think so. My favorite film is The Goonies. It makes me feel like an 8-year-old or a 10-year-old. It captures beautifully what it is to love your friends and have adventures, whether they are real or in your head or not, and how epic the world seems. I think it's brilliantly done. It makes me cry, that film, sometimes. But, I guess I have not watched a film that has changed my life. But when I do that will become my favorite film, I suppose.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.