Current:Home > InvestJames McAvoy's positively toxic 'Speak No Evil' villain was 'a tricky gift' -AssetBase
James McAvoy's positively toxic 'Speak No Evil' villain was 'a tricky gift'
View
Date:2025-04-27 20:58:36
James McAvoy has a new love for The Bangles.
In the horror movie “Speak No Evil” (in theaters Friday), his character Paddy invites recent acquaintance Ben (Scoot McNairy) and his family for a getaway in the English countryside. And on a jaunt in the car, Paddy wails “Eternal Flame” with wide eyes and gusto, leaving his guest at a loss.
Seriously bad stuff happens after that, and still it doesn’t ruin that 1980s hit for McAvoy. “It has even more significance for me now, I loved doing that,” the Scottish actor says. “I have a friend who will look into my eyes and sing an entire song at my face, like up close as if I'm singing it back with them, as if we are sharing this incredible moment."
Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox
In the remake of the 2022 Danish thriller of the same name, Ben (McNairy), wife Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and their daughter (Alix West Lefler) are on an Italian vacation when they meet the boldly gregarious and fun Paddy, his spouse Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) and son Ant (Dan Hough). They get along so well, Paddy says they should visit his place, but the vacation takes a turn – as does Paddy’s personality – as the mercurial host’s sinister reasons for bringing them there are revealed.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“You've got this good-guy couple who you would never want to be and you would never want to have their relationship. And then you've got this bad-guy couple and you're like, ‘I’d love to experience a relationship as passionate and as loving as that,’ ” McAvoy says. “You're playing with the audience's moral center (and) their affections on multiple levels. That was a gift but it was a tricky gift.”
McAvoy, 45, has played heroes on screen, most notably as young Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” movies. He’s done villains, too, like the 24 personalities of Kevin Wendell Crumb in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” and “Glass.” But the actor says playing Paddy was a tightrope between terrifying horror and friendly comedy.
“You had to stay in the middle as long as possible, for like an hour and 10 (minutes) almost, to make both things potentially possible at all times,” McAvoy says. “Everybody's here for seeing something scary happen. How much can you make the audience wait before actually delivering something horrific?”
In playing “good” Paddy, McAvoy looked at friends who are “quite positive examples of masculinity” as inspiration. On the other hand, he doesn’t think that many people are as toxic as Paddy can be.
“The thing that I think was most important about Patty was not his toxicity (and) not his nefarious intentions. Those things are just like bad guy traits,” McAvoy says. “We recognize that and it's almost boring. It's upsetting. It's something we have to live with because there are people out there like that. But I think we can understand it.”
What makes Paddy interesting, though, is that he loves what he's doing, McAvoy explains. “It sounds kind of glib, bad guy having a good time, but it's a guy doing bad things who's really trying to enjoy his life and that's actually quite admirable. Some good people – good citizens, good partners, good parents – are not capable of even trying to enjoy their lives.”
“Speak No Evil” changes some aspects of the original film, but there’s one key line that writer/director James Watkins kept: When Paddy is asked why he’s doing what he’s doing, he coolly responds, “Because you let me.”
For McAvoy, one of the key themes of the movie is social compliance and “the things that we as individuals, but also as a collective society, allow the institutions that control us to do to us,” he says. “Why do they do it to us? Because we let them. We don't go on strike. We don't vote Democrat when we voted Republican all our lives, we just vote Republican. We don't make political statements (and) we don't take stances when we see injustice and wrongdoing.
"What is that? Is that laziness? Is that politeness? And I think it's both those things in this film.”
veryGood! (68)
Related
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
- Krispy Kreme is giving free dozens to early customers on World Kindness Day
- Retirement planning: 3 crucial moves everyone should make before 2025
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responds to CeeDee Lamb's excuse about curtains at AT&T Stadium
- Judge sets April trial date for Sarah Palin’s libel claim against The New York Times
- Who will be in the top 12? Our College Football Playoff ranking projection
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- NCT DREAM enters the 'DREAMSCAPE': Members on new album, its concept and songwriting
Ranking
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper Prove They're Going Strong With Twinning Looks on NYC Date
- 10 Trendy Bags To Bring to All of Your Holiday Plans
- Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- FC Cincinnati player Marco Angulo dies at 22 after injuries from October crash
- Five best fits for Alex Bregman: Will Astros homegrown star leave as free agent?
- Man jailed after Tuskegee University shooting says he fired his gun, but denies shooting at anyone
Recommendation
Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
How to Build Your Target Fall Capsule Wardrobe: Budget-Friendly Must-Haves for Effortless Style
Denzel Washington Will Star in Black Panther 3 Before Retirement
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
Indiana in the top five of the College Football Playoff rankings? You've got to be kidding
Jennifer Garner Details Navigating Grief 7 Months After Death of Her Dad William Garner
Residents urged to shelter in place after apparent explosion at Louisville business