X-Men star James McAvoy’s shock transformation in new movie role for Glass

X-Men star James McAvoy has undergone a huge transformation to portray a demon-like being, in Glass, the final chapter of M. Knight Shyamalan’s comic-book themed Unbreakable trilogy.

The last time James McAvoy played the multifaceted role of the 24 personas living within murderous former zoo worker Kevin Wendell Crumb, he had a few short days to prepare.

With the proposed star of Split, Joaquin Phoenix, pulling out just before filming began, McAvoy stepped in with a performance that earned significant critical attention and helped propel the budget 2016 fantasy thriller to blockbuster status.

Not only did he master more than a dozen different characters, McAvoy had to reveal plenty of bulked-up flesh to portray The Beast, the demon-like being who is the terrifying culmination of all of Crumb’s other split personalities.

But for Glass, the upcoming final chapter of M. Knight Shyamalan’s comic-book themed Unbreakable trilogy, which opens this week, McAvoy had plenty of time to plan, and he didn’t take it lightly.

“I thought ‘I’ve got my shirt off for about 70 per cent of the movie and I am running about being a character who’s called The Beast, so I have to look not unbeastlike’,” the actor says in his thick Scottish brogue.

The Beast (James McAvoy) from Glass. Photo: ©Universal Pictures

“I was also recovering from minor surgery, so I thought I need a proper kickarse trainer, one of those guys who’s done it with other actors.”

McAvoy and Shyamalan turned to celebrity trainer Magnus Lygdback, whose previous A-list clients include Alicia Vikander in Tomb Raider, Ben Affleck in Justice League and Alexander Skarsgard in The Legend Of Tarzan. He’s also responsible for helping create Wonder Woman Gal Gadot’s lean lines.

“It was five meals a day, work out five times a week, he was meticulous and quite surgical how he built me up,” says McAvoy, who bulked up significantly for the role.

James McAvoy attends the UK premiere of M. Night Shyamalan's all-new comic-book thriller "Glass". Picture: Getty

James McAvoy, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy and M. Night Shyamalan attend the UK premiere of "Glass". Picture: Getty

“I am a really glad I did it because the animalistic side of what I have to do in this film is way more prevalent than in Split and my whole premise sort of relies on it a lot more, so to have the physicality and not fake it was very important.

“And when we were filming it was broad daylight in a car park in October. There was no hiding this with lighting or shading or whatever. I can’t be just a f---ing 38-year-old, so it was a hell of a lot of eating.”

McAvoy said he didn’t hesitate when Shyamalan approached him to star in Glass, following the tearaway success of Split, which made nearly $400 million off a modest $12 million budget.

James McAvoy in a scene from the movie Glass. Picture: Disney Films.

The film reunites Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackon from 2000’s Unbreakable and also stars Sarah Paulson.

“He’s one of the most technically gifted directors I’ve ever worked with,” McAvoy says of Shyamalan.

“He’s gifted, but done his homework as well. He’s learned his craft just so well, and I know that should always be the case for someone who has made 13 movies but it’s not.”

The demands of the role weren’t just the physical ones involved in beefing up for his character — McAvoy was also expected to bring a whole cast’s worth of personality traits to the project.

“It was exhausting, yes, but that’s a good thing,” he says.

“I’d rather be exhausted by the amount of work that you can get your teeth into rather than to be exhausted buy the fact that the work is nebulous or void of anything that works well.

“The hardest parts to play are the parts that aren’t well written or the parts that, even if you have an interesting character, the script around them sucks.”

Glass stars James McAvoy. Photo: Jessica Kourkounis.

McAvoy said he was stretched by the challenge of playing so many people tied into one role.

“Even if they only say a line or two you’ve got to come up with a pretty robust characterisation for them, so that it doesn’t just seem this abrupt appearance (when you are playing them),” he says.

“They had to be all pretty different for clarity’s sake, but you have to give them a reason for being different. You can’t just change their voice. That is really tricky because you quickly run out of tools from your tool kit.

“That was happening after 12 characters and I thought, I’ve run out of tools here, so what I am going to do is get back to a bit more people watching, and then you grab on to this bit or that bit of a character.”

Describing McAvoy’s performance as flawless, Shyamalan said he believed only one or two actors in the world could have pulled it off.

“One of the things that it really has astonished me with James is his performance,” he says.

“I think it’s really one for the generations.”

Glass opens on Thursday.

Originally published as X-Men star James McAvoy’s shock transformation in new movie role for Glass