M. Night Shyamalan’s 2016 thriller “Split” was originally set to star Joaquin Phoenix, but he dropped out two weeks before filming began. James McAvoy, who took over in Phoenix, discussed the unusual development in a recent interview.
McAvoy told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that Phoenix is an “amazing actor” who would approach the role in a different way to the Scottish actor. Split tells the story of a man (played by McAvoy) who has 23 different personalities, so anyone can understand that preparation sounds crucial to the role. But McAvoy said he was relieved to come in so late in the process because he couldn’t overprepare.
“I think he’s going to put in a very different performance than I did. But I think he’s going to put in an unbelievable performance. Sometimes coming at the last minute is the best way to go,” he said. “I think he gave up two weeks before they started shooting. real Last minute. I have two weeks [to prepare]”.
McAvoy went on to say that the script for Split was so well put together that it didn’t take much effort for him to figure out what he wanted to do in the movie, even though he came in too late. McAvoy said there were a few characters/personalities that “took longer to find,” but other than that, he said he didn’t have much trouble finding his footing and making Shyamalan and Blumhhow The movie that Si wanted.
Split isn’t the last time Phoenix will quit a movie before filming begins, as he recently quit a Todd Haynes romance five days before filming began. One report says Phoenix could have paid as low as seven figures to compensate, considering the sets had already been built and the film had been sold to distributors when he abruptly left.
The horror film “No Evil” starring McAvoy is now in theaters. As for Phoenix, his next blockbuster is “Joker: Pas de Deux,” which will be released in October.
In other McAvoy news, the actor also discussed how he auditioned and could have been cast in the Harry Potter film series but chose to pass.
