James McAvoy somehow got hotter by dragging Andrew Tate

As if we need another reason to stan James McAvoy, he recently shaded far-right influencer and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate on main, revealing how the so-called “king of toxic masculinity” inspired his performance in Blumhouse’s upcoming horror flick, Speak No Evil.

Andrew Tate, a social media personality (and literal criminal, BTW) who gained notoriety for his radical stances on gender, sexuality, and the patriarchy, has an chronic case of Stage 4 yap-itis. Unfortunately for us, his whole “alpha male dominance” thing has spread like the plague since his rise to popularity in 2016, whether that be through a series of long-winded X (Twitter) rants or virtual “Hustlers University” training courses. And even more regrettably, people actually agree with him—reaffirming my belief that podcast mics should be banned by the Geneva Conventions as soon as humanly possible.

Thankfully, X-Men alum and certified horror hottie James McAvoy isn’t one of them, once again proving that he’s the only man ever. More so, Tate’s social media fame might actually have led to some good, as his online persona (perhaps inadvertently) informed McAvoy’s performance in the American remake of director Christian Tafdrup’s 2022 psychological thriller Gæsterne, a.k.a. Speak No Evil.

James McAvoy calls his Speak No Evil antagonist a “polite” version of Andrew Tate

In 2024’s Speak No Evil, which also stars Mackenzie Davis, McAvoy plays Paddy, a murderous doctor who hosts guests at his estate in the idyllic English countryside—a weekend getaway that quickly becomes a nightmare. Paddy is the sort of patriarchal head of household we’re all too familiar with, but McAvoy took a unique approach to the character by pulling inspiration from a specific person: Andrew Tate.

“The thing I thought I could exploit in the character was, he thinks he’s a bit of a f— West Country Andrew Tate,” McAvoy said during an interview with Empire, alluding to the film’s real-world connotations. Considering the former kickboxer has amassed a following of well over 10 million on X, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see horror villains like Paddy worshipping at Tate’s feet.

“He’s like, ‘I’m going to teach you what it’s like to be a man again.’ But there’s a sort of polite face on it that isn’t quite Andrew Tate, enough of a sheen of, ‘I’m not one of those guys.’ [Paddy’s] challenging you, ‘Do you have a big enough d*** to have a drink with me?’, Or, ‘I’m sorry, this is too much for you because you’re not real enough.’”

More celebrities should be calling out Andrew Tate

I feel like we don’t talk enough about Andrew Tate’s cult of personality, and more so, the dangerous impacts of his misogynistic “manosphere” dogma on an entire generation of (mostly) very young boys who have grown up watching his content. Even having his name in the cultural zeitgeist should be setting off alarm bells, as there’s a slew of sexist and homophobic influencers crawling out of the woodwork, made only worse by Elon Musk’s purchase of X/Twitter. Maybe … don’t subscribe to a man who’s been charged with human trafficking?

In all sincerity, I’m glad to see an A-lister of McAvoy’s caliber recognizing that guys like Tate are a very real problem in today’s society, because this line of “male supremacy” thinking often leads to cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, and more. After all, his behavior shouldn’t be normalized, as the internet has become far too desensitized to his particular genre of cruelty. Men like Tate continue to be a threat to women worldwide, so hey, if IRL horror villain is his legacy, then I think that’s only fitting.

For those looking forward to seeing McAvoy’s Tate-esque serial killer in action, Universal and Blumhouse’s Speak No Evil arrives in theaters on September 13, 2024.