Speak No Evil director reveals surprising role that inspired "world-class" James McAvoy casting

Horror fans might assume that it was McAvoy’s creepy turn as the main character in M Night Shyamalan’s Split, who lives with multiple personalities (some of them violent), that landed him this part. After all, they both involve performances that range from charming to outright unhinged.

But according to director James Watkins, it was a very different role that put him on the radar of those behind the film.

"People talk a lot about Split, but for me, it wasn't Split," he explained.

"I had seen Filth, the Irvine Welsh adaptation, and that character is so reprehensible that with a lesser actor, you would have been turned off very quickly. But James brought sympathy and also pathos to the character, and I thought that was a real high-wire act."

This "high-wire act" made him Watkins’s only choice for the role, with the filmmaker going on to wax lyrical about the "world-class" talent.

"I've admired James for a long time as an actor, and he’s someone I wanted to work with, and it was great.

"He was the first and only person I went to for the part of Paddy, and he said yes, and then we sat down and we talked all about the themes and what we're trying to do, and the toxic masculinity and all of that.

"And it was a blast. When you're working with somebody that good, all the other actors kind of feed on that. He's proper world-class."

Working with McAvoy was just one of the draws to remaking Christian Tafdrup’s original film so soon after its release, with Watkins wanting to bring a different tone to that notably darker outing.

"Christian’s film was incredibly kind of austere – brilliantly austere. Whereas my film is, I think, quite funny.

"I've sat with audiences, and they really enjoy the humour of it. And that's deliberate.

"I wanted it to be funny because I think there's a kind of cultural cringe [between the American protagonists and British antagonists], there's a [feeling of], is this funny, should I be laughing? I think that is part of the pleasure."

Speak No Evil is now showing in cinemas.

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