"That's the main thing that attracts me - characters who have big journeys. I like playing those people"
About this Quote
There’s also a canny self-portrait hidden in the phrasing. “That’s the main thing that attracts me” frames his career as choice-driven, not market-driven. It positions him as an actor who chases narrative risk over brand maintenance, even though his filmography has always toggled between prestige dramas and big franchise machinery. In Hollywood, a star’s most valuable asset is recognizability; McAvoy is quietly saying his is recognizably in flux.
“Those people” matters, too. It’s a small, humanizing term that resists the more clinical talk of “roles” or “material.” It suggests empathy as method: he wants to inhabit, not just perform. Coming from someone who’s played everyone from a young man cracking open emotionally to characters splintering into extremes, the line reads like a guiding principle: give me a psyche with mileage, give me consequences on the body, and I’ll do the rest. In an era of IP where characters are often designed to stay evergreen, McAvoy is making a case for stories that actually leave a mark.
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APA Style (7th ed.)
McAvoy, James. (n.d.). That's the main thing that attracts me - characters who have big journeys. I like playing those people. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-the-main-thing-that-attracts-me--83235/
Chicago Style
McAvoy, James. "That's the main thing that attracts me - characters who have big journeys. I like playing those people." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-the-main-thing-that-attracts-me--83235/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"That's the main thing that attracts me - characters who have big journeys. I like playing those people." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/thats-the-main-thing-that-attracts-me--83235/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.





