Actor James McAvoy (“Split”) is showing once again that life really can imitate art in the upcoming film “Speak No Evil.” In the movie, McAvoy portrays Patty, a father, husband, and beacon of toxic masculinity. In a recent interview, he broke down how he based his performance on the king of insecure men, Andrew Tate.
“Speak No Evil” is a remake of a 2022 Danish thriller directed by Christian Tafdrup. The film follows a Danish family on vacation to Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later, they receive an invitation to visit their new friends in the Netherlands. However, they soon learn the family has some seriously sinister secrets.
It seems that the James Watkins-directed remake for Universal will stick with a similar plotline.
McAvoy as Tate
“The thing I thought I could exploit in the character was, he thinks he’s a bit of a f— West Country Andrew Tate,” McAvoy explained. “He’s like, ‘I’m going to teach you what it’s like to be a man again.’ But there’s a sort of polite face on it that isn’t quite Andrew Tate, enough of a sheen of, ‘I’m not one of those guys. [Paddy’s] challenging you, ‘Do you have a big enough d*** to have a drink with me?’, Or, ‘I’m sorry, this is too much for you because you’re not real enough.’”
“You wanted something a bit agricultural,” McAvoy adds. “I had two big visual touchstones. The first was the Australian term ‘bogan’, which can be associated with a certain level of toxic masculinity. And the other was the character Rooster from Jerusalem, played so brilliantly by Mark Rylance.”
“Halt and Catch Fire” alums Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy also star, along with Alix West Lefler, Aisling Franciosi, and Dan Hough.
Universal’s “Speak No Evil” hits theaters September 13th. You can watch the trailer below:
