News: James McAvoy

The star of this week’s tip-top The Last King of Scotland has has already completed work on Penelope, starring opposite Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon. From what we can tell, it sounds like a Tim Burton-esque fable with Ricci as a woman deformed by a family curse, desperately searching for love and acceptance.Coming up in the next year or so, McAvoy will continue to add to his enviable leading ladies opposite Keira Knightley in the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s bestselling Atonement, following that up with a role in the Anne Hathaway-starring Becoming Jane, about the young Jane Austen’s tragic romance with Tom Lefroy – who else but McAvoy? – the man who helped inspire her novels.

Meanwhile, although McAvoy has claimed to have little interest in big Hollywood blockbusters, it looks like his first action role could also be on the cards. Set to star opposite Morgan Freeman, McAvoy will play the son of a super-powered assassin who takes on his father’s mantle in this big screen adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic series Wanted. Shooting is set to start this month for a 2008 release – and could well see McAvoy really hit the big time.

News: James McAvoy

The 27-year-old Shameless star may remain best known for his TV work, but the next year or so could well see him hit the big time, with this week’s Starter for Ten just the first of many films in which he’ll be taking the lead, rather than the supporting turns he’s mostly had to put up with to date. Next up is The Last King of Scotland, an adaptation of the Giles Foden novel about the relationship between Mentalist Ugandan dictator Idi Amin – a top-notch Forest Whittaker – and his scottish doctor, played by McAvoy, which received rave reviews at its London Film Festival screening, and is due for a nationwide release in the second week of January. He has also already completed work on Penelope, starring opposite Christina Ricci and Reese Witherspoon, a Tim Burtonesque fable with Ricci as a woman deformed by a family curse, desperately searching for love and acceptance.

Coming up in the next year or so, McAvoy will continue to add to his enviable leading ladies opposite Keira Knightley in the film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s bestselling Atonement, following that up with a role in the Anne Hathaway-starring Becoming Jane, about the young Jane Austen’s tragic romance with Tom Lefroy – who else but McAvoy? – the man who helped inspire her novels.

Meanwhile, although McAvoy has claimed to have little interest in big Hollywood blockbusters, it looks like his first action role could also be on the cards. Set to star opposite Morgan Freeman, McAvoy will play the son of a super-powered assassin who takes on his father’s mantle in this big screen adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic series Wanted. Shooting is set to start in January 2007 for a 2008 release – and could well see McAvoy really hit the big time.