James McAvoy has described an unpleasant first day on the set of “Band of Brothers,” saying a fellow actor enlisted others to mock him while he was filming the HBO miniseries.
McAvoy recounted the experience during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” where he was asked to assess his time on various projects. He said he arrived for a scene involving a large group of actors, many of whom had been working on the production for months but had only brief appearances. McAvoy, by contrast, said his character had an arc and substantially more dialogue in his episode.
The actor said one person in a photograph of the cast recognized the situation and had, along with several friends, stood pointing and laughing at him for about three minutes. McAvoy said this happened on his first day as a professional actor after drama school. He did not name the person he accused of organizing the incident.
The picture shown during the program included Donnie Wahlberg, Kirk Acevedo, Scott Grimes, Neal McDonough, Adam James, Frank John Hughes, Philip Barantini and Ross McCall. McAvoy’s account did not specify which person in the image he identified, and the source material does not include a response from any cast member accused or implicated in the story.
McAvoy also emphasized that not everyone on the set joined in. He said Dexter Fletcher and Robin Laing took him aside and invited him to spend time with them. Looking back on the production as a whole, he rated the experience nine out of 10, while describing that particular day as a two.
“Band of Brothers” was a 10-part HBO miniseries that aired in 2001. It followed Easy Company, part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division, and drew on interviews with surviving members, as well as soldiers’ letters and journals. McAvoy appeared in one episode.
The actor later became widely known for roles in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Wanted,” “Atonement” and the “X-Men” films. In a separate podcast appearance in September 2024, he discussed accepting a role in “X-Men: First Class.” He said he and his wife had taken time away from work following the birth of their first child, and that returning to work while remaining close to home mattered to him. He also cited the pay, the three-picture agreement and his interest in the source material as factors in his decision.
