James McAvoy Exposing the Truth Behind Sexiest Scene in His and Keira Knightley’s $129 Million Film Will Forever Change How You See It
- James McAvoy shares behind the scene secrets of the famous library scene from Atonement.
- James McAvoy and Keira Knightley had a list of food to avoid before a kissing scene in the movie.
- McAvoy auditioned for Voldemort's part in Harry Potter.
Directed by Joe Wright, 2007’s romantic-war drama film Atonement starred James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan, and more. The movie is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Ian McEwan and follows a crime and its consequences over six decades. Upon release, the movie was critically acclaimed with praises for the performances of the actors and the writing and emotional depth portrayed in the movie.
Atonement managed to gross over $129 million at the box office, and reportedly there were two drafts written for the movie. Where the first draft had an original approach owed more to contemporary filmmaking than historical filmmaking. The second draft of the script was closer to the novel. Actor James McAvoy was Joe Wright’s first choice for the part who mentioned that there is something undeniably charming about the actor. McAvoy in an interview breaks down filming for Atonement.
James McAvoy reveals Joe Wright was ‘forensically detailed’ about a scene in Atonement
In his interview with Letterboxd, actor James McAvoy, who played Robbie Turner in the movie Atonement, shared how the director Joe Wright is great with details in his movie. Recalling the library scene from the movie he shared,
When you watch it, it is really beautiful, it’s romantic, it’s deeply sexy, and the way we shot it was quite the opposite. Joe Wright was prescriptive about how he wanted us to be positioned against the bookcase. He was a great director; he is a great director, and we would do anything for him on that job. We felt that we were in the hands of a proper master.
McAvoy continued that the filmmaker was forensically detailed about how he wanted them to do things in the scene. He added Wright gave both him and Keira Knightley a great piece of direction where their characters kiss for the first time, and it doesn’t work. The actor added that the kiss didn’t work because it felt like they were brother and sister, and then Wright told them that they tried to kiss again and their tongues connected.
The actor, who was highly praised for his performance in the movie, noted further that the tongue connection felt like they were signing a contract at that moment for the rest of their lives. He concluded that it was a beautiful piece of direction.
James McAvoy, in an interview with People back in 2007, shared about the ground rules the two actors had while filming an intimate scene. He mentioned that the two of them talked a lot beforehand, so they had it figured out what they were going to do, what bits they were going to feel, and what not.
The Scottish actor added that during a s*x scene, they made sure not to eat a lot of garlic, salmon, and cucumber sandwiches beforehand. He mentioned that while filming a scene through their scene, they tell a story; there is an emotional journey that they want the audience to see and feel.
James McAvoy does not regret turning down Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
McAvoy appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he revealed that he could have been a part of one of the most popular and successful fantasy series, Harry Potter. Upon asking whether he’d want to star in Star Wars or the upcoming Harry Potter TV reboot, the X-Men actor revealed that he auditioned for the part of Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Voldemort. He said,
It was right at the beginning of my career. They wanted to put me on a retainer. They offered me something. It was crazy. I had hardly done any work at the time. Me and maybe 10 other actors, wanted to put us on retainer so they could hold us and keep us to choose later who it would be. It was a really strange thing.
The actor explained that he was offered a lot of money at the time, adding that it was like 40,000 pounds or something. But after discussing with his agent, McAvoy was advised to turn down the part as he wouldn’t have been able to work for seven months. He admitted that he does not regret turning the role down, mentioning that it was part of the making of him.
Asked if he’d be interested in joining the Harry Potter world now, he said that he doesn’t think there is anything he’s missing out on in terms of what he has covered. The actor clarified that he’d love to be a part of sci-fi and comedy movies but not a teacher at Hogwarts as of now.
Atonement is available for VOD on Apple TV, Prime Video, and Tubi.
