これまでのイメージを一新！アクションにも挑戦

By Noriko Nakamura, Asahi Weekly

　『ウォンテッド』で絵にかいたような負け犬人生から一転、暗殺集団の一員へと大変貌（ぼう）を遂げるウェスリー役を演じたジェームズ・マカヴォイ。劇中の激しいスタントもこなした彼は、映画の出来栄えに大満足だ。

　Scottish actor James McAvoy is clearly not the first choice when an action role comes along.

　McAvoy himself understands this, and when asked at a recent press conference in Tokyo whether he would accept the role of British agent 007 in a James Bond film, he said he couldn't see himself playing that part.

　"Maybe '008,'　his friend who is killed at the beginning," McAvoy quipped.

　Still, in his latest film, "Wanted," McAvoy is more than convincing in action scenes, having put on more than 10 kilograms for the role. While physically doing a good job, his acting is even more praiseworthy.

　At the beginning of the film, Wesley, played by McAvoy, is a miserable, cowardly guy, yelled at by his woman boss, and even his girlfriend cheats on him with his best friend. But after he meets the mysterious assassin Fox (Angelina Jolie), his life changes completely.

　The guy who couldn't even hold a gun correctly is soon transformed into an expert hit man. The 29-year-old actor said he wanted to "find the balance between who he is at the beginning and who he is at the end," because he wanted the audience to smoothly follow the transition and to believe that "anybody can do any of this, really, if they are motivated to do it."

　Co-starring with big names such as Jolie and Morgan Freeman, McAvoy said he learned a lot from them. He admired Freeman's talent to absorb any lines to become seemingly his own, and emphasized that the veteran actor "does truly have the 'voice of God.' " In addition, McAvoy praised Jolie's ability to inject humor even into the most serious scenes.

　As for the film's Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov, McAvoy admitted that he was puzzled about his direction at the beginning.

　McAvoy said Bekmambetov didn't hesitate to not only change the lines, but also the concept of the film during shooting. He even changed a crying scene to one of laughter, McAvoy said. As a result, he said, when he saw the edited film for the first time, he was stunned because it was very different from the one he had envisioned.

　"I was very surprised," McAvoy said. But he added that this surprise came with joy, because the movie was more than he expected.