Holiday Habits

James McAvoy

“I’M EXTREMELY PROUD TO BE SCOTTISH. But I’m not ridiculously proud. I live in England! But going home to Scotland is always the best feeling. My family are very proud of me and people there are very complimentary and are very pleased for me – even people I don’t know are very pleased for me. It’s nice.

“There are a lot things I miss that make me want to go back home, like watching [football team] Celtic play in Glasgow, and a sausage called ‘square sausage’. My grandfather is a butcher and makes his own, they’re exceptional. But the one thing I don’t get in Scotland, that I love, is Irish black pudding. It’s the best, and I can only get that when I go to Ireland.

“Scottish people are quite good at accents because there’s not a lot of Scottish movies and TV programmes, so we watch a lot of English, Irish and American people. So I don’t think it’s any big wonder that we can do your accents! It’s something I have always been able to do.

“When I travel, I love jumping off things, just for fun. When I was in New Zealand for The Chronicles of Narnia I went up to the Sky Tower in Auckland, which is the highest building in the Southern Hemisphere. I jumped off that on a wire, which was pretty cool. It’s a controlled descent and 40 feet from the ground it just takes the edge off and you land like Superman.

“I also love hiking and I would travel to go hiking more, if I have the time. When my friends go hiking in the mountains I’m very jealous. The mountains in Scotland are so old, like sleeping giants.

“I have a couple of friends in Hollywood, which makes it easier when I visit LA. I’ve never actually made a film in Hollywood. For instance, Wanted [with Angelina Jolie] was in Chicago and Prague. I don’t think I’ll move to LA, simply because logistically it’ll present lots of nightmares. Moving from Scotland to England was a big enough culture shock in the first place. I’d end up spending all my time flying back to Europe.”

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS IS IN CINEMAS NOW; THE CONSPIRATOR IS IN CINEMAS FROM 1 JULY.