Here's Why James McAvoy Turned Down A Role In JJ Abrams' Star Trek Movies

Actor James McAvoy is a confessed Trekkie. On During a video interview with the "Happy. Sad. Confused." podcast, the actor noted that he watched reruns of "Star Trek: The Original Series" when he was a boy, mostly because of its ubiquity. "Star Trek" reruns were common in his area, and McAvoy recalled the colors and outsize qualities made the show feel, to his eyes, like a comic book. It wasn't until he started watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation," however, that his true fandom began. He especially recalled "The Best of Both Worlds," the notable two-part episode in which Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is transformed into a soulless cyborg.

McAvoy also admitted to loving the "Star Trek" feature films, even though they leaned a little heavily on sentimentality. He noted that the films all possess a nostalgic "We're getting the bad back together" quality that perhaps kept them from being great. The actor even paused to defend the oft-maligned "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," loving its operatic nature.

The podcast host, Josh Horowitz, then idly asked McAvoy why he hasn't appeared on "Star Trek" yet. The franchise covers a dozen TV shows and is churning out new episodes all the time, and McAvoy would likely fit into the world. There was also, one might pause to note, a pop connection between McAvoy and Stewart; both actors played Professor X in the "X-Men" film series. McAvoy admitted, almost dismissively, that he "came close" to being on "Star Trek." He then revealed that he was offered a role in J.J. Abrams' 2009 movie reboot of "Star Trek." Although, rather frustratingly, he wasn't allowed to say which role he would have taken.

Horowitz asked, straightforward, if he was offered the role of Dr. McCoy, the role that ultimately went to Karl Urban. It's surprising that Horowitz didn't ask McAvoy — who born in Glasgow — if he was offered the role of Scotty, ultimately played by Simon Pegg. Either way, McAvoy was sworn to secrecy. Or, more likely, he signed an NDA. He also made a suggestion that Abrams seemingly followed. In his own words:

"I can't tell you. [...] I got offered something. I didn't want to do that. I suggested I could do something else. They wanted to camera-test me, and I was like 'Do you know what? Yeah, it's alright. Don't worry about it.' Not because I wouldn't, because I just didn't think it was right. [...] What I said to J.J. about what I thought the role should be, and what the of actor that should be [in it], they absolutely got."

McAvoy explicitly does not take credit for Abrams taking his suggestion — it's likely Abrams was already looking at the kind of actor McAvoy was describing — but he did like the performer in question. It's frustrating that McAvoy had to be so vague, but he must abide by Hollywood secrets. McAvoy added that he liked the three films in the Kelvin-verse, including the not-very-good "Star Trek Into Darkness."

McAvoy's new film, "Speak No Evil," a remake of the 2022 Danish film "Gæsterne," is now playing in theaters. He is, as of this writing, not attached to any "Star Trek" projects.