James McAvoy Recalls The Moment He Had With Patrick Stewart And Ian McKellen On X-Men: Days Of Future Past That Showed Him They’re ‘A Different Kind Of Actor’

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The 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past brought together the casts of the newer First Class movies and the original X-Men trilogy. This gave James McAvoy, who played the younger Professor X, the chance to work with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who returned as the older versions of Professor X and Magneto, respectively. During filming, McAvoy had an experience that showed him what set Stewart and McKellen apart as actors.

I recently caught up with James McAvoy and Elliot Page – both familiar faces from X-Men: Days of Future Past – during a chat with Josh Horowitz of Happy Sad Confused at New York Comic Con. They talked about a lot, including Elliot’s work on The Odyssey, but something McAvoy shared really stood out. He thinks the X-Men films actually did something before the Marvel Cinematic Universe did, which is a bold claim! But even more charming was a story he told about spending an afternoon with Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. Apparently, he walked into Stewart’s trailer to find him cooking, while McKellen was completely relaxed, feet up in a recliner. It set the stage for a pretty great moment, and…

I had just finished performing Macbeth in London’s West End. Ian asked if I had, and I confirmed that I had. Then, he suggested we all try reciting some lines, because Patrick had performed the play too. Honestly, it had only been about two weeks since I finished, and I couldn’t recall a single line! Meanwhile, these two were effortlessly trading favorite parts of the play. It was amazing – they clearly had a different approach to acting and a fantastic memory!

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It’s no surprise Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen could effortlessly recite lines from Macbeth. Both actors spent years with the Royal Shakespeare Company performing Shakespeare’s plays long before their roles as Professor X and Magneto. James McAvoy also has a background in Shakespeare, but he’d forgotten the Macbeth lines a few weeks after playing the lead role.

James McAvoy might one day be able to recite Shakespeare as effortlessly as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, and he was certainly amazed watching them do it. In X-Men: Days of Future Past, besides Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, McAvoy’s Charles Xavier was the only other actor from First Class who shared a scene with a member of the original X-Men cast. The two versions of Xavier—the older and younger—connected through Wolverine’s mind, allowing Stewart’s Xavier to inspire McAvoy’s character to feel hopeful again.

You can rewatch X-Men: Days of Future Past on Disney+. James McAvoy’s latest film, California Schemin’ (which he also directed), had its first showing at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, but it doesn’t have a release date yet. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are both returning as Professor X and Magneto in the next Marvel movie, Avengers: Doomsday, which is scheduled to be released on December 18, 2026.

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2025-11-04 17:08