In Speak No Evil, a weekend visit to friends escalates into a psychological nightmare: Following a new holiday acquaintance, the Americans Louise (Mackenzie Davis) and Ben (Scoot McNairy) and their daughter Agnes are invited to Paddy (James McAvoy) and Ciara’s (Aisling Franciosi) English country house. But the longer the visit to the parents of the taciturn boy Ant lasts, the more cracks appear in the facades of both couples.
Director James Watkins (Eden Lake) directed an English-language remake of the 2022 Danish-Dutch film Speak No Evil. We met actor James McAvoy (X-Men, Split) to talk about his new sinister role, remakes and societal constraints.
James McAvoy as a dangerous and entertaining tightrope walker in an interview about Speak No Evil
Moviepilot: First of all, congratulations on your truly terrifying performance in Speak No Evil. Did you have a role model or a trick to slip into this menacing role?
James McAvoy: No, I wasn’t channeling anyone. There was a moment at the very beginning of the film where I physically tried to imitate Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast when he’s at the pool. But other than that, I never really try to imitate anyone.
The only ‘trick’ I had for playing Paddy was to enjoy it. I think that’s the beauty of these four characters: we have two really good people who have a shitty relationship – and we have two really bad people who have the kind of relationship you could only dream of. And as bad as they are, they enjoy their lives and the games they play with other people. So as long as Paddy was enjoying the moment, it was easy to get into character.
Should we expect more dark and ambivalent roles from you after Split and Speak No Evil?
I don’t think I have anything similar in the works at the moment. I like playing not only dark roles, but above all people who walk the line. Tightrope walkers between the entertaining and the dangerous. I like playing with the audience’s affection and shifting the moral center of the viewer.
So you’re not tired of playing the heroic Charles Xaviers from X-Men out there yet?
Oh no. A good role is a good role! If you are playing a heroic person in a bad script, I would throw it out the window. If it is a well-written role, I will never to be tired.
Have you before the
Shooting the remake seen the original film Speak No Evil, released two years ago?
No, fortunately not. Not until we finished filming. Maybe it wouldn’t have been a problem, but I didn’t want to have a comparison in my head to what someone else had done before me. Or the pressure to get all the scenes really good, that they did perfectly. I wanted to go into it with a fresh perspective. When you direct Shakespeare, you don’t do a remake of Macbeth. You just do Macbeth. I don’t look at all the previous actors, I just play my Macbeth. And that’s exactly the same here.
You have seen the original film thereafter viewed?
Yes. It’s a really good film. And after seeing ours, there are of course a lot of similarities. But they are also very different films.
What did you think about the very different ending of the original?
I liked the other ending. But I don’t think their ending would have worked in our film. Especially because they’re so much about social compliance and how far they can take that. […] Our film was about something different: Even though Ben and Louise don’t become soldiers at the end, they try to save themselves. That makes for a very different situation.
So how would you interpret the title? Speak No Evil.
Phew. I think I would take the title quite literally: The child cannot talk about the evil that was done to him.
So you don’t think there is a political or social note in the title?
Oh yes, it is. It is not just about obedience, but also about the “social contract” [social contract – im Deutschen: Vertragstheorie]. In order to live in a safe society and feel protected, we must suppress the animal within us that is selfish, takes everything and kills. But Paddy and Ciara are not people who will sign this social contract. And it is also about Ben and Louise, who cannot speak of evil because that is part of the social norm they signed. We politely ignore evil and politely follow the rules.