James McAvoy is “always ready” to reprise Professor X, which he played in the 20th Century Studios rebooted X-Men franchise since 2011. The actor spoke to Variety at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con and expressed his interest in returning to the franchise, depending on the quality of the project.
“I’ve always said, if there’s a good role, if there’s a good opportunity to tell a good story, I’m always going to be interested in it, no matter whether it’s something I’ve done before or something completely brand new,” McAvoy said.
“If there’s good material, I’m always ready to respond. I’m always ready. Ever ready! Actor ready! It’s got to be good, and they’ve got to want to do that, so it’s all hypotheticals.” Apart from starring in X-Men films, including X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix, McAvoy also portrayed Charles Xavier, aka Professor X in Deadpool 2.
During the interview, the actor was asked whether he watched the blockbuster Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, which had a buffet of star-studded cameos. Although he had not seen the movie, he acknowledged that his name was mentioned in the credits.
“I know, I know! I knew I was going to be in the credits. I demanded. [Laughs] No,” he said. However, when asked if he had plans to join the film for a cameo, he quickly denied. “No, no, no, no. Not this one. I don’t think so. If there was a world, they clearly threw that idea out the window before calling me, so no,” he added jokingly.
McAvoy was joined by Director James Watkins and co-star Mackenzie Davis of his latest horror flick, Speak No Evil. The story revolves around an American couple and their daughter whose casual staycation at a British family’s country house turns into a psychological nightmare.
The actor talked about the film and praised the director for capturing the idyllic stuff while maintaining “tension” in the first half of the slow-burn movie. “it’s just tension, tension, tension, tension, and so for the last 20 minutes when it all kicks off, it all just explodes,” he added.
Speak No Evil will hit theaters on 13 September 2024.
