Wanted is mostly an action film but there are times when the action quiets down and dramatic, emotional moments take over the spotlight. James McAvoy enjoyed those scenes and had fun playing a character who at least initially suffers from panic attacks. "I love doing that. It was also, I felt that the character arc and his journey provided a lot of drama in this as well. I didn't feel like it was just a genre movie. I didn't feel it was just a comic book movie. I felt there was a sufficiently interesting character and someone in a very truthful and actually quite sad place to begin with in the film. So it was scenes like that that made me think, 'Well, I think the actor in me is not going to be unemployed for four and a half months while I do action.' Do you know what I mean? I did feel that there was enough to do there to satisfy my acting urge as well."
"All the panic attack stuff I loved. I love really physical-izing, I don't just mean by doing action scenes, but playing Mr. Tumnus in Narnia. It was such a physical role. Even though I wasn't doing stunts, it's still incredibly physical. And doing all the panic attack stuff, doing anything that’s emotionally instigated but physically manifested is just really, really interesting I think. It's a complete emotional response, isn't it? A panic attack. I loved all of that."
McAvoy also loved balancing the drama with humor in Wanted. "That was totally fun. I mean, I'm guilty of trying to find the humor in even the most serious of films that I've done and it always gets edited out. So it was kind of a joy to be in an environment where the director and producers were saying, 'No, no, no, try. You have an idea? Go for it. You want to fall down? Great, cool. There's a rubber chicken over there if you want to get it in the frame. Here's a banana skin.'"
As for the future - a future that probably won't include another major role in a big action movie any time soon – McAvoy's able to put to rest at least one casting rumor that's been floating around the internet. Asked about the possibility of a role in The Hobbit, McAvoy replied, "I can completely deny it. It just seems to have all been rumors."
McAvoy confirmed no one has approached him about playing Bilbo Baggins. "No, not at all. Neither Peter Jackson nor Guillermo del Toro have got in contact."
And if they did, would he be willing to play Bilbo? "I think I'd need to see the script first," answered McAvoy. "From what I hear them saying, they don't even have a script. So you'd have to see if you're right for the part, although I'm sure if I was wrong for the part, they wouldn't even bother asking, so who knows? We'll see."
