Speak No Evil director calls James McAvoy 'the most talented actor I’ve ever worked with'

James Watkins knew James McAvoy would be perfect for the villain in 'Speak No Evil'.

The 45-year-old actor stars as the sinister Paddy in the English-language remake of the 2022 Danish psychological horror film and Watkins insisted McAvoy was always his number one choice.

He told Variety: "The truth is, most people never get the top person on their list. But I was talking with Jon Harris, the editor I’ve worked with a lot, and he’s cut a lot of movies with James in them. When I was writing, I sent an early draft to John and we chatted about it. He was like, 'It’s got to be McAvoy, right?' And I was like, 'Yeah, that’s what I think.' I didn’t really have a plan B.

"I’m sure that lots of other brilliant actors could have played that role. But when I was writing it, I was thinking, 'James McAvoy, I can just completely see him playing this character.' There was a film he did called 'Filth,' where he plays such a reprehensible character, but he brings tragedy in a way you just can’t quantify. The guy is awful, but somehow, James just gives you enough to keep you going."

And, Watkins called McAvoy a "gift" to the film.

He said: "James is a gift. He’s possibly the most talented actor I’ve ever worked with. We had such a classy cast that we could just keep excavating as we went along, finding new things within it, and then bouncing off each other and playing tennis with each other. But James, he’s incredibly relaxed on set. But then when he’s in it, he is so in it. He is aware of what he’s doing, but sometimes you can say to him, 'I like that thing you did.' And he’s like, 'Oh, did I do that?' The best actors, they don’t act. They are."

McAvoy previously revealed he loosely based his performance on the controversial 37-year-old social media influencer Andrew Tate, who is famous for promoting toxic masculine ideas to his millions of followers.

In an interview with Empire magazine, he said: "The thing I thought I could exploit in the character was, he thinks he's a bit of a f****** West Country Andrew Tate.

"He's like, 'I'm going to teach you what it's like to be a man again.' But there's a sort of polite face on it that isn’t quite Andrew Tate, enough of a sheen of, 'I'm not one of those guys.'

"He's [Paddy's] challenging you, 'Do you have a big enough d*** to have a drink with me?', Or, 'I'm sorry, this is too much for you because you're not real enough.'"