James McAvoy explains the character’s last line

James McAvoy’s latest film is an American version of a Danish horror film of the same name, but the actor didn’t see the original until “the day after we finished filming,” he says.

In fact, he said in an interview with TODAY.com that if he had seen it, he “probably wouldn’t have taken the role.”

In “Speak No Evil,” McAvoy once again takes on the role of the horror villain.

He was initially known for his romantic roles, such as Robbie in Atonement, a superhero with his eight-year stint as Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise and, of course, Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but then he turned to horror with M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and Glass. (And what genre is he interested in next? “It’s been a while since I’ve done comedy,” he says.)

In Speak No Evil, McAvoy plays a rude but charming family man named Paddy who invites a couple he meets on vacation to his family home in rural England. They accept the invitation, and it turns into a visit from hell.

McAvoy says it’s not the idea of ​​playing the villain that appeals to him as an actor, but the complexity behind the character.

“If it was just a real villain, I probably wouldn’t find it that interesting,” he says.

Paddy in particular is “strangely charming and entertaining and funny” – and also “despicable and vicious and brutal and toxically masculine,” says McAvoy.

“Sometimes you have to do a lot in one scene – sometimes in one line,” he says. “As an actor, it’s challenging and hard work. But it was really fun and hard work.”

What is “Speak No Evil” about?

The film begins with Paddy and his wife Kira (Aisling Franciosi) on holiday in Italy with their son Ant (Dan Hough).

There they meet an American family who recently moved to London – Louise (Mackenzie Davis), Ben (Scoot McNairy) and daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler).

After some polite encounters and casual dinners, Paddy invites her to his estate.

A few weeks later, faced with professional disappointments and difficulties with the move, they set off for the countryside.

Something is wrong from the start. Uncomfortable conversational tension escalates into uncomfortable situations until this “something” takes shape in the final act of the film. (We’ll save the spoilers for later.)

McAvoy describes his character with a quote from his own grandfather: “Make sure you enjoy it to the fullest.”

“I think that’s one of Paddy’s maxims that he keeps to himself,” says McAvoy. “I think I actually put that into the film at some point, but it never made it into the final cut. Enjoy it to the fullest – and ‘take’ is a big thing.”

Both the 2024 Blumhouse production and the 2022 Danish original version of Speak No Evil begin with the same premise.

McAvoy says he knew the film was a remake after read the script.

“So I thought, ‘Sure, I’ll watch the trailer or something.’ And I started watching the trailer, and after about 30 seconds I turned it off and thought, ‘I shouldn’t be watching this,'” McAvoy says.

“I just think if I had been unlucky enough to see the original film – not that it would be unlucky if you had seen the film,” he clarifies with a laugh. “It would have been unlucky because I probably wouldn’t have taken the role.”

He describes the 2024 production and the 2022 Danish film as “slightly different films, slightly similar films.”

“I think I would have felt a little trapped as an actor because sometimes I make the same choices as in the other film,” he says. “Sometimes I don’t make the same choices as in the other film, but I was free to do my version of it.”

The stories also end in very different places.

How does “Speak No Evil” end?

🚨🚨Warning: Spoilers for the 2022 and 2024 Speak No Evil films follow.

In McAvoy’s version of Speak No Evil, the first two-thirds of the film builds tension slowly. From the start, Ben and Louise are visibly uncomfortable after Paddy tricks Louise, a known vegetarian, into trying a piece of meat. The family almost leaves after finding Agnes asleep in Paddy and Kira’s bed, but they are persuaded to stay.

Later, they witness Paddy being rough with Ant, who cannot speak, which leads to an awkward conversation about the social mores of criticizing other people’s parenting methods.

Things come to a head when Ant reveals the truth to Agnes. In a shed on the property, Ant points to a series of pictures that show Paddy and Kira often meeting families on holiday. In each picture, they appear to be posing with a different child.

It turns out that their modus operandi is to take each couple’s child, cut out their tongue, and pass it off as their own to the next family they meet. This means Ant is not their son, and Agnes is their next target.

Agnes tells her parents, and her attempts to leave the estate are repeatedly thwarted. Paddy ties her up and makes Louise transfer all the family money into his account. He threatens to kill Ant, Louise and Ben and prepares a narcotic for Agnes, presumably so they can remove her tongue. When Louise asks why they are doing this, Paddy says, “Because you let us.”

This line and the title of the film help establish the film’s central theme: “silence through politeness,” says McAvoy.

“The Daltons represent in society this social subservience and inaction in the face of horrific behavior. Whether it’s personal, social or political, we stay silent. We don’t speak up. We don’t get involved. Sometimes we don’t even vote.”

After hiding an X-Acto knife, Louise finally strikes back, starting a brutal, bloody game of cat and mouse on the estate while her family and Ant try to survive Paddy and Kira’s attacks.

In the end, Louise’s family escapes from an upstairs window and climbs down a ladder. Kira finds them and is pushed off the roof, where she dies.

Paddy is eventually stopped by Agnes, who injects him with the tranquilizer shot from earlier. But Ant refuses to leave as long as Paddy stays alive. He approaches Paddy and picks up a rock. Before repeatedly punching Paddy in the face, McAvoy’s character says, “That’s my boy.”

Paddy says this last line several times throughout the film and it was originally a reference to a cartoon that Ant watches.

“There’s a dog, maybe in ‘Tom & Jerry,’ that says, ‘That’s my boy,'” McAvoy says, imitating a gruff, barking tone. “And so the director, James (Watkins), wanted me to literally try to do a slightly worse version of that voice.”

“But for some reason that cartoon wasn’t made into a movie and so I just did this weird cartoon voice for no reason and it was a bit weird,” he adds with a laugh.

The line marks Paddy’s last words.

“It’s like a farewell shot from Paddy, still trying to win,” says McAvoy.

At the beginning of the film, his character quotes a poem, “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin, which reads in part: “They mess you up, your mommy and daddy./ Maybe they don’t mean it, but they do./ They fill you up with the mistakes they had/ And add a few more, just for you.”

“Paddy’s understanding of love and his way of learning to love was brutal,” says McAvoy. “And his father did that to him, and he took it out on the rest of the world and on these children.”

The final scene of the film shows Louise, Ben and Agnes driving away from the estate. Ant is also sitting in the back seat, his hands bloody, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

“I can’t imagine a world in which Ant doesn’t have to work a hell of a lot to avoid becoming a seriously disturbed person,” says McAvoy.

How does the 2022 version of “Speak No Evil” end?

The original “Speak No Evil” ends – somehow – on an even darker note.

The Danish film, starring Morten Burian, Sidsel Siem Koch, Fedja van Huêt and Karina Smulders, ends with the escape of the Bjørn family, Louise and Agnes, after Bjørn finds the body of Patrick and Karin’s (adapted in 2024 as Paddy and Kira) “son” Abel.

Bjørn’s car breaks down and Patrick and Karin find them. They cut out Agnes’ tongue, stone Bjørn and Louise to death, and then target a new family.