ITV News Entertainment Reporter Rishi Davda caught up with James McAvoy at the premiere of his directorial debut, California Schemin’
With more than 20 awards to his name and about 50 films under his belt, James McAvoy has now stepped behind the camera.
Best known for his roles in X-Men, The Chronicles of Narnia, Atonement, The Last King of Scotland…and my personal favourite Wanted, the 46-year-old has directed his first film California Schemin’.
It follows the steps to stardom of Silibil N’ Brains, a Dundee-based rap duo who pretended to be American in order to be taken seriously in the music industry.
You’re probably thinking, ‘Who on Earth thought of that storyline?’ Well, it is based on a true story.
“I had been looking for something that told stories about people from lower-income backgrounds, council estates, or as we call it in Scotland, council schemes,” says the actor turned director.
McAvoy and I are chatting at the film’s premiere in London’s Leicester Square, basking in the sunshine that flows through the cinema’s giant windows.
“A lot of the stuff I was reading was pretty grim”, he says, “and a bit sort of gritty, award-worthy fair, which is great… I love those films, but that is not what I wanted to make.”
“I wanted to make something that is still entertaining, that is still adventurous, that is still cinematic, that is still a mainstream popcorn movie.”
Silibil N’ Brains consists of Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd. Bain is Brains and Boyd is Silibil. In the early 00s, they were mocked and overlooked by the music community for sounding too Scottish.
One dismissive individual even referred to them as the ‘rapping Proclaimers’.
Down but not out, the pair reinvented themselves by adopting American accents and telling people they were from California, rather than Dundee.
It worked! They signed a record deal, appeared on MTV and even performed on a UK tour with Eminem’s group D12.
Gavin says, “It was like two and a half years as Silibil N’ Brains, but I stayed in character for five years. I came clean after five years. It was quite a journey. It became an identity crisis. Some of the backstory bled into my real life.”
Seamus McLean Ross, who plays Gavin/Brains in the film, couldn’t quite believe the tale when he first heard it.
“I was just so captivated by the audacity of it, the bravado and the lust for life. Two young men with a mission, not knowing where they are going, just off the cuff, I love people like that.”
Bain wrote about their fakery in his 2010 memoir, California Schemin’: How Two Lads from Scotland Conned the Music Industry.
There was also a 2013 documentary about the boys, called The Great Hip Hop Hoax.
Reflecting back on their musical mischief, Boyd says ‘this was pre-social media, before the time of people creating art and putting it out there within minutes.”
“We couldn’t do that back then. Nowadays, things would be different, you can be more authentic and be yourself and have those opportunities that we didn’t have. You don’t have to break down those boundaries as much.”
Born in Glasgow, James McAvoy’s career has taken him to Hollywood, appearing on screens and garnering fans around the world.
He’s not just directing California Schemin’, he stars in it too. It provided him with a unique opportunity to actually use his own accent.
“I think I’ve played five Scottish characters in 30 years,” he recalls. “Once I get over the bump of the first day of being like ‘this feels weird’, which is perverse, that speaking in my own accent when I’m getting paid should feel weird, but that’s just the way my career has gone.”
“Once I get over that bump, it’s kind of gorgeous and just feels very natural.”
Smiling while reflecting on getting to work with McAvoy, Samuel Bottomley – who plays Billy/Silbil – said that ‘it’s such a good opportunity to stand on the shoulders of giants or in the shadow of a giant and watch how they work. I feel very grateful for it.”
The film, which is out in cinemas on Friday, April 10, is very much about friendship, community and identity.
Scottish McAvoy has something of a blended identity, with an American wife and two children raised in England.
Ahead of a summer which contains a men’s football World Cup, I want to know which shirts are worn around the house and who he supports. James laughs before answering.
“Look, I would never wear an England shirt. I do support England, let it be known.”
“My eldest is very much an England fan. I’m not one of those Scottish people who cheers against England. I’ll admit, I did that in my teens. I’ll cheer on England definitely, but the only kit I’ll ever wear is a Scotland kit.”
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