In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, James McAvoy shared that a wild night at a 2015 Entertainment Weekly event led M. Night Shyamalan to cast him in ‘Split.’ He revealed this story while discussing his new film ‘Speak No Evil’ at Comic-Con 2024. The actor stated:
“There was an EW party in 2017? 2015, maybe. We were on the roof, and it got crazy, and somebody ended up getting knocked out. Not in anger, not in a fight, but one of our mates ended up getting knocked out.”
The fight caught Shyamalan’s eye and was positive for McAvoy:
“It was ’round about that moment that M. Night Shyamalan looked over at me from somewhere else in the party and went, ‘Oh, I wonder if that guy could play the guy in ‘Split’?'”
‘Split’ is a horror-thriller about three teenage girls kidnapped by a man with 23 personalities. The movie ends with a surprise that it’s set in the same universe as Shyamalan’s 2000 film ‘Unbreakable,’ featuring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.
How Did McAvoy Prepare For ‘Split’?
McAvoy used YouTube to learn about people with multiple personality disorder for his role in ‘Split’ after no one agreed to talk to him. Although he spoke with doctors, the patients themselves didn’t want to meet with him, so he watched videos to understand their experiences. In a previous appearance on the U.S. breakfast show Today, he spoke about how he prepared for his role:
“I spent a bit of time with some medical professionals, that was handy to an extent. What I really needed was to spend time with people with the ID [identity disorder], [but] I couldn’t find anybody that would sit and talk with me, unfortunately.”
Instead, the Scottish actor had to use video blogs on YouTube to learn about the condition and perfect his movie role:
“What I did find really useful was diaries, really just for the day-to-day ins and outs of what it’s like to live with ID, and then bloggers
, people who vlog. I found that YouTube was an incredible tool for people with the ID and a platform for them to project themselves positively into the world.”
McAvoy had little time to prepare for the role because he wasn’t the first choice. Joaquin Phoenix was originally cast but dropped out, so McAvoy took over at the last minute.
