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Nov 22 11 12:54 AM
Plus: Some tidbits on Danny Boyle's new thriller 'Trance'
By Gregory Ellwood Tuesday, Nov 22, 2011 2:33 AM
Want to know a big reason why "Arthur Christmas" should be on your must-see list for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? Let one of the animated film's leading voices, James McAvoy, explain to you how the "quality" of the script made him jump at the chance to join the project. "It's one of the funniest things I'd read that year and just the opportunity to work with Aardman Studios. Y'know, they made 'Wallace & Gromit' and 'Chicken Run.' I think they are a really good idiosyncratic voice out of Britain and to get to work with people like that is something that's very exciting," McAvoy says during a quick phone interview. "And, in fact they offered it to me without making me audition. That was nice." (Of course, that last part is just the always charming McAvoy throwing in one of his typically self-deprecating zingers.) As the title character, McAvoy infuses Arthur, son of the current Santa Claus, with the big goofy heart he needs to keep the Christmas spirit alive among an increasingly modern and technological "mission." It turns out director Sarah Smith was lucky enough to have most of the acclaimed cast record their dialogue together. "I got to record with Billy Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Jim Broadbent. If you had told me I was going to work with them I would have said yes without even reading the script," McAvoy says. "I've worked with Bill a couple of times before, he's played my dad. This was the first time I've worked with Jim and Imelda though. Great fun. It's a credit to McAvoy that most audiences won't even recognize his voice as Arthur. It's not just that the Scot is speaking in a broader English accent either. "It's the same with every character you play, even a Scottish character," McAvoy says. "I just recently played a Scottish guy in Danny Boyle's new film. He doesn't sound like me, it's just a different thing. I don't really think about it. When you start to play someone who isn't you your voice just starts to change automatically and I know I'm gonna put on an English accent when I put on Arthur, but it's almost like a subconscious glide into a different character."Moreover, the father of two doesn't mind the fact he's added another family film (after "Gnomeo & Juliet") that will play to kids to his resume.