James McAvoy: ‘Toxic’ New Horror Role Inspired by Andrew Tate

James McAvoy has revealed that his character in the new horror movie Speak No Evil was influenced by the controversial and ‘toxic’ influencer Andrew Tate.

The Scottish actor plays Paddy, a father of a British family with a dark secret, in the latest adaptation of an acclaimed Danish film from 2022, sharing the same name.

In an interview with Empire (via Deadline), McAvoy elaborated: “The thing I thought I could exploit in the character was, he thinks he’s a bit of a… West Country Andrew Tate.”

The 45-year-old explained further: “He’s like, ‘I’m going to teach you what it’s like to be a man again.’ But there’s a sort of polite face on it that isn’t quite Andrew Tate, enough of a sheen of, ‘I’m not one of those guys.’ [Paddy’s] challenging you, ‘Do you have a big enough d*** to have a drink with me?’, Or, ‘I’m sorry, this is too much for you because you’re not real enough.’”

McAvoy continued, “You wanted something a bit agricultural. I had two big visual touchstones. The first was the Australian term ‘bogan’, which can be associated with a certain level of toxic masculinity. And the other was the character Rooster from Jerusalem, played so brilliantly by Mark Rylance.”

He also added that the character has “almost a Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast vibe: ‘I don’t mind if my belly’s sticking out because that’s how comfortable a man I f**king am.’”

The original movie centers around a Danish family on vacation in Italy who befriend a Dutch family in Tuscany and are subsequently invited to their home in the Netherlands. After accepting the invitation, the Danish family quickly realize that not all is right at their Dutch friend’s home, and things soon take a dark turn.

The remake changes the nationalities of the families to British and American respectively. It stars Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy as the American family visiting an idyllic estate, home to McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi, and Dan Hough, who play the British family.

Meanwhile, Andrew Tate, the controversial influencer, is currently under house arrest in Romania. He is being detained for 30 days as prosecutors continue investigating a sprawling case that involves allegations of human trafficking and sex with a minor.

The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers and dual British-US citizens, are already awaiting trial in another human trafficking case in Romania, along with two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four individuals last year.