James McAvoy explains why he's a romantic at heart

James McAvoy at the New York City press junket for "The Last Station"

James McAvoy has been making a name for himself with critically acclaimed performances in mostly period dramas, but the Scottish actor says he’s ready to branch out and do other genres. He starred with Angelina Jolie in his first big action film, 2008’s "Wanted," and he’s set to co-star with Seth Rogen in the comedy "I’m With Cancer." The European-set drama "The Last Station" finds McAvoy on more familiar territory: portraying a lovelorn man in a bygone era.

As the shy and naïve Valentin Bulgakov in the biographical "The Last Station," McAvoy plays a devoted assistant to the legendary Russian writer/artist/philosopher Leo Tolstoy (played by Christopher Plummer), who is caught in the middle of a power struggle between his wife, Sofya Tolstoy (played by Helen Mirren), and Leo Tolstoy’s scheming advisor Vladimir Chertkiv (played by Paul Giamatti). McAvoy’s real-life wife, Anne-Marie Duff, has a supporting role in "The Last Station" as Sasha Tolstoy, one of Leo’s loyal daughters. I recently caught up with McAvoy at the "The Last Station" press junket in New York City, where we chatted about why he’s attracted to period films, what it was like to work with Jolie in "Wanted," and what his favorite romantic story is.

What did you most like about making "The Last Station"?

I had a really good laugh. Everybody on this film was a right laugh, a real hoot. Paul Giamatti, the foremost among the humor makers, I think. And we liked the drama, too. The acting.

Helen Mirren and James McAvoy in "The Last Station"

What do you think about Helen Mirren?

She’s got a crackling sense of humor. She doesn’t take it too seriously. I think when you have a laugh with somebody, you’re obviously connected to them. It makes whatever happens on screen better, I think.

Helen Mirren had some comical moments in the film.

Yeah, we had a bit of funny in the film, which was really attracted me to it and made it, for me, a slightly different animal from the usual costume drama/period biopic of a historical, artistic figure. We’re not used to seeing that kind of comedy. And sometimes it’s quite overt. I was waiting for the rubber chicken and the sliding bananas to come out, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t pitching for it. I like that.

Valentin Bulgakov had a nervous tic in "The Last Station." Is there a nervous habit that you have?

There is, but I’m keeping it a secret. That was all true. We didn’t make that up. Valentin Bulgakov sneezed when he got nervous. What an incredible thing to be so obvious and overt with your acting as well. Instead of doing the usual … [it was] "I want you to do nothing and put nervous music over it." That’s how you get really nervous as you gaze into the wells and windows of your soul that your eyes are. Instead, it was, "You’re nervous. I want you to sneeze 20 times." So everything becomes overt, and when it fills the room, I like that.

Kerry Condon and James McAvoy in "The Last Station"

Valentin seems to be very unlike you. You’re not the shy, virginal type …

No. [He says jokingly] I’m talking it through everywhere.

So what did you draw inspiration from to play personality type that’s your opposite?

I think love was a big thing. He was in love. He was in love with the idea of Tolstoy, and that love left him so much in life and left him appear, for his age, naive. He [Valentin] wasn’t a kid. He was 23. That was the key into it: his love of Tolstoy. And the deconstruction of that love is part of what this [story] is about.

What’s an idea you’ve been in love with in your personal life?

I’m in love with people, certain people. I don’t think I’ve ever loved an idea.

James McAvoy in "The Last Station"

Have you ever gone through an existential phase where you didn’t care about much?

No, I never have gone through that. I think I tried to care about everything. I tried to have an opinion on everything … and ended up in arguments I didn’t want to have, but just wanted to have opinions.

Actors are some of the greatest observers of human behavior. Did you ever find inspiration from someone you know in real life to play a character?

Oh, yeah … One of the things I did in this film ["The Last Station"] was I added the phrase "all right" to a lot things. It’s not like, "Oh, wow. What an amazing decision to make." I wanted it to be that [Valentin] provided affirmation to others. And somebody very close to me in my life … that is something they did all the time. They just affirmed other people. It was their job to make other people feel god about what they were doing, what they were saying. So I put in a lot of "all right," "well done," "of course."

James McAvoy and Kerry Condon in "The Last Station"

A lot of your movies have been about love. Are you drawn to these scripts because you’re a romantic a heart?

Yeah, I think I’m a romantic at heart. I’m an incurable romantic. I don’t mean necessarily the script [has to have] affairs of the heart with the opposite sex, although it seems that way at times, but just in terms of stories. I like romantic, sweeping stories, not just sexy love ones. I just think it’s an important part of everybody’s life. Even if we tell the same story over and over again, we need to hear it over and over again, because it’s so important.

Do you have a favorite romantic story?

"Brief Encounter." There’s a very good stage show of "Brief Encounter." It’s nothing like the film. It’s inspired and adapted from the film, and it’s brilliant. It’s a lot of fun. I saw it a production in London. It’s very funny as well. The original film is not like that. The original film is very, very beautiful.

Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy in "Wanted"

Have you heard anything about the sequel to "Wanted"?

No, I don’t know anything. I do know they want to make it. It was "wanted" by Universal, but I don’t know when we’re going to see a script or when we’re going to shoot. It could be next year, for all I know.

How did people’s perceptions of you change in the public and in the entertainment industry after you did "Wanted"? That movie was such a huge departure for you.

I don’t know, really, how it changed people’s perceptions. I do feel like people in America know who I am a little bit more since "Wanted." But other than that, I don’t really know. What I get offered is the same sort of ilk [dramas]. I don’t really get offered lots of action roles. The thing about "Wanted" is that it was an action role, but it was a very particular type of action role that suited me. I don’t think I would suit most action roles. I haven’t actually been inundated with [offers to do] the new "Die Hard" [movie] or anything like that.

James McAvoy in "Wanted"

Would you want to do more action roles?

I think I’ve done enough. I’m quite satisfied. What I’d like to do next is something new for me. I just want to keep trying new things. It’s called "I’m With Cancer" shot in Vancouver. We’re going to make that with Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick. And it’s about a guy who gets cancer in his 20s — it’s a true story written by the guy [Will Reiser] — and it’s about his couple of years of a cancer odyssey that he goes on to try and get better, and thankfully, he does get better. So it chronicles his time of his illness and treatment …

And I just did 10 weeks on "The Conspirator," which is a Robert Redford film. It’s a drama. It’s another period piece, but it’s a courtroom drama. I’d never done that before. That was quite exciting. I still feel that I’m getting to examine myself as an actor and see how far I can go in different directions.

Speaking of period pieces, which era from the past do you like the most?

The early 1940s. To play in that period has always been good, and that just might be because I had good scripts in that period. Actually, anything. Even between the two great wars [World War I and World War II] is really good. The period between World War I and World War II, I made a film called "Bright Young Things," and that was super-interesting, because there was a generation of people who didn’t know what they were doing sans the war … and there was a real decadence that went on in the gentry, which was quite interesting, too. But something about the sacrifice made en masse by entire generations of countries is something I don’t think we understand now.

I know we’ve been in wars and conflicts, but not everybody in a country feels connected to it and are in danger. To have a mindset to be in as a nation, to have a collective subconscious that is in tune that is focused on one thing and everybody’s facing in one direction, it seemed like it galvanized [people]. I’m not saying that everybody’s on the same page, but it’s a really interesting.

James McAvoy and Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"

Did you ever wish you could be someone’s protégé? Have there been any artists you think have changed your life?

No, I don’t think so. No, not really. There’s stuff I’ve loved and stuff I’ve taken inspiration from, but tiny bits, all accumulated into one mass of jumble that I can’t even remember.

When did know you wanted to be an actor?

When I was 18, I think. At 16, I got my first job, and I loved it. But when I was 18, I felt like, "Yeah, I want to do this [for a living]." So I auditioned for drama school, and got in. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be an actor.

You turned 30 last year. Is there anything you really want to do in your 30s?

Hopefully, jump out of an airplane. I want to do it on my own time. I’m looking forward to my 30s. I always felt old before my time, so hopefully my physical age is catching up with my physical and mental age. I don’t think it’s an "old soul" thing. I just think it’s an aversion to loud music, and I’ve never really been into drugs and stuff like that. I always felt a little bit old before my time. But, you know, I enjoy a nice drink. That’s still pretty rock’n’roll, isn’t it?

James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie in "Wanted"

When you were filming "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie, did you see any of the paparazzi madness that surrounds her?

I didn’t see it. When we went to Chicago, we had two photographers, something like 400 feet away from us once. When we were in Prague, someone tried to break into her apartment and all that and take pictures, but I didn’t really see any of the [paparazzi hysteria] myself, which shows you how well [Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt] manage it.

Did you learn anything from Angelina Jolie about handling fame if you ever get that famous?

Their lives are so removed from mine, I don’t have to employ their moves. Once somebody stood outside our house and took a picture about four years ago. And that was the end of that.

Can you talk about your experience doing the stage production "Three Days of Rain"?

I loved it. It was a fantastic couple of characters I got to play. I really miss it, actually. I really miss playing those two …

Why do you think you’ve done so many period films?

Of all the films that get made, quite a high percentage of them are period films. I think we’re obsessed with ourselves, and therefore we need to explore our history. Why I end up getting cast in period films, I can’t tell you, but I do like them. I think I’m lucky that they’ve been good stories.