09/10/2025 - The Scotsman breaks down his directorial debut, a comedy based on the true story of a Scottish rapping duo who pretended to be American

(© Sandra Zachmann/ZFF)

Scottish film and theatre actor James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Victor Frankenstein, X-Men: Apocalypse) presents his directorial debut, California Schemin' [+see also:
interview: James McAvoy
film profile], as the closing film of the Zurich Film Festival. The comedy flick is based on the true story of Scottish rapping duo Silibil N’ Brains, who pretended to be American.

Cineuropa: Why did you decide to bring the story of a rap duo to the big screen?
James McAvoy: I wanted to tell a story about people who have a similar background to me, who also come from a working-class neighbourhood. But I didn’t want to just tell a story that would be about unemployment, drug abuse or a lack of hope. This film contains the one essential element that is important for me as a storyteller, which is to entertain and make people laugh before I make them cry. I saw an opportunity to tell a story that was aspirational because there aren’t many of those movies coming out of Scotland. And it was underpinned by the fact that it’s a true story that ends tragically because the people get badly hurt.

Is it really a disadvantage to be Scottish, or is that a cliché?
A lot of actors who come from Scotland get pigeonholed as only being able to play Scottish people. When you have a Scottish character in a film, it is not a woman who works in a bank or a man who’s missing his child, nor a pilot who got drunk and got fired – but a Scottish person. Being Scottish takes up so much of the storytelling, whereas stories about people in other communities get more of a three-dimensional exploration of who they are.

When I first came to London 25 years ago, my accent was thicker and more difficult to understand. But I was fortunate enough to be able to be cast in roles that were not just identified as Scottish. I’m proud of being from where I’m from, but I also don’t just want to play people who are like me all the time.

What made you decide to make the leap behind the camera?
I have wanted to direct since I was about 16. I would probably have done it much earlier if I hadn’t had the acting career. When I said I wanted to direct, nearly every single script I got was about working-class people from Scotland. But these depressing, dark stories about unemployment were bad versions of Ken Loach movies. I love Ken Loach’s work, but I want to make different movies. When this script came along, I thought I could do anything with this story.

What are the most fascinating aspects of the story for you?
I’ve never really liked biopics about troubled artists, and I’ve never really liked musicals. But my first film is a musical biopic because it was the story that drew me to it. It is a tale about pretending to be something, but it is also a story about what you are willing to sacrifice for success in art, and having your authenticity and your self-respect on the line. You might want money, success, fame or just to get the opportunity to do your job, but whatever you want, you’ve got to sacrifice something for it. Sometimes, there’s a lot more than just blood, sweat and tears. These guys in the film sacrifice a lot, and that spoke to me because this movie had the potential to be entertaining and funny, inspiring and aspirational.

How was your experience as a first-time director?
As a director, you get questions during preparation all the time. I realised that if I didn’t give answers to these incredibly skilled, highly experienced professionals who’d made 50 movies as heads of their departments, they wouldn’t get to do their job. And it is in preparation where you make the film. So, you need to give answers. However, you don’t always know. So, you have to admit it, get your ego out of the way and open up to these incredible people when you don’t know. I had to sit down with them instead of pretending that I knew or giving a shit answer just because I wanted to cling on to power.

Is it an advantage to be an actor yourself when you direct actors?
I thought my 30 years of acting would give me a kind of shorthand with actors. But I found myself in exactly the same place as nearly every actor-director I’ve worked with, and I felt what they must have felt when those actors hadn’t given what they’d told them to give of themselves. My job is to help them give of themselves what I want them to give, but without telling them.