Some actors seem destined for an Oscar, and James McAvoy has been waiting far too long for his invitation, but that did not keep him from conjuring an Oscar-worthy performance to get out of a musical audition. In M. Night Shyamalan's Split, he cycled through a character with 23 alternate personalities and a terrifying 24th identity, turning a psychological thriller into an acting obstacle course.

Atonement showcased his heartbreak, Filth unleashed his chaos, and X-Men made him a telepathic superhero staple. Yet Hollywood's golden statuette has never come calling. McAvoy also seems content choosing projects carefully rather than appearing everywhere.

Apparently, that selectiveness once went spectacularly off-script when he invented an emergency to escape an audition years ago.

James McAvoy's agent Ruth had once urged him to audition for a stage musical, believing it could transform his career. While McAvoy could not remember whether it was 'We Will Rock You' or 'Rock of Ages,' when speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, he revealed musicals were hardly his comfort zone.

He learned a song and practiced guitar until he could manage the tune. But when the panel invited him to perform, panic hijacked proceedings. Rather than admit he was uncomfortable, he summoned his acting skills for an unauthorized drama.

Through tears, he claimed a friend had been hit by an ambulance on the way there and taken to hospital.

“He got hit by an ambulance,” McAvoy recalled telling the panel with teary eyes. The mission, on the other hand, he accomplished. 

Hours later, he said on the podcast, Ruth called, worried about his supposedly injured friend. McAvoy confessed he simply wanted out. The punchline? The audition team invited him back the next day. His agent was furious. McAvoy had escaped a musical, only to deliver an Oscar-worthy audition for a role nobody had written.

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He escaped one theatrical kingdom, but another from his past is opening its doors again.

Before Charles Xavier read minds, James McAvoy played Mr. Tumnus in Andrew Adamson's 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His scarf-wearing faun introduced Lucy Pevensie to a snowbound kingdom, making suspicious woodland tea invitations iconic.

Now Greta Gerwig is rebuilding C. S. Lewis's universe. Her Netflix film Narnia: The Magician's Nephew follows Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer into Narnia's origin story, with newcomers David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell leading the adventure.

The cast resembles a spellbook. Daniel Craig plays Uncle Andrew, Emma Mackey portrays Jadis, and Meryl Streep voices Aslan. Carey Mulligan and Ciarán Hinds feature. McAvoy has no announced role, meaning a Mr. Tumnus reunion belongs in fan-fiction territory.

Netflix released the trailer on October 13, bringing magical rings, a flying horse, and Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' into the same fantastical orbit. Narnia apparently got a rock-concert upgrade while everybody was checking their wardrobes.

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Can Gerwig conjure the magic of McAvoy's original Narnia adventure? Let us know in the comments.