X-Men and Atonement star James McAvoy said he is such a regular at the tip that workers at his local one sing the theme tune to Cheers at him
Actor James McAvoy has a rubbish hobby – he’s become hooked on going to recycling dumps in middle age. The X-Men and Atonement star said he is such a regular that workers at his local one sing the theme tune to Cheers at him.
James, 46, revealed: “The skip is the key to feeling like you’re getting rid of all the baggage in your life, a good visit to the skip is, oh man…
“You know you’re a middle-aged dad when you love going to the skip.
“There was a time when I was renovating the last house that I lived in and I was going to the skip so often that they literally sang the theme tune to Cheers every time I came in because they knew my f*****g name and that was a whole new level of, ‘Oh, I’m really middle-aged.'”
Glasgow-born James said he shunned a life in Hollywood to live in London for the sake of his two kids with ex-wife actress Anne-Marie Duff and second wife, producer Lisa Liberati.
He explained: “I mean, I live in London, I try to work in London as much as I can.
“Because I’m never gonna be on my deathbed thinking, ‘Thank God I made those five movies in Australia and I didn’t get to spend all that time with my kids.'”
The Scotsman has been winning rave reviews for his directorial debut, California Schemin’, in which he also stars, about two Scottish rappers, which hit cinemas last week.
He told Red magazine: “Everything that came my way was gritty Scottish drama. A gritty Scottish council estate and quite hopeless. Why does that happen?
“I grew up on one of the most low-income working-class council estates in Scotland and I saw beauty, and I had lots of fun and I had grand ideas, and lots of people did and lots of bad things did happen, but why can’t there be a romantic comedy that happens on a council estate?
“Why is it only posh people or middle-class people that can be in romcoms, what is that? Why are we only telling a diverse range of stories about people from a certain background?
“I do remember playing Macbeth in the Scottish Play, the Scottish king in the Scottish Play, and the director saying, ‘Just so you know, James, sometimes, I might have to go [mimes turning down the volume]’.
“And I was like, ‘Excuse me, what do you mean?’ and he went, ‘Scottish’ [mimes turning down again] and he did an offensive voice.
“I was so angry. In my youth, in my 20s, I was less understanding and less graceful in how I pushed back, so I was just like, ‘F*** you, you p***k!'”