While on the set of the 2000s superhero movie Wanted, James McAvoy almost passed out because he was putting in so much effort into one scene. If you don’t know, or remember the action movie Wanted, you’re probably not alone. Wanted was adapted from the comic book series written by industry legend Mark Millar.
While the movie performed well and released to moderately positive reviews, Wanted ultimately isn’t remembered as one of the most influential films within the genre. Despite that fact, the thriller movie had a stacked cast led by James McAvoy (who would go on to star as Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies), alongside supporting actors including Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and Chris Pratt.
Now, potentially the most notable thing about Wanted has been revealed – and it involves James McAvoy almost fainting on the set of the film. Speaking to GQ, McAvoy reflected on his role within the movie as the shy Wesley Gibson, who was stuck in an unfulfilling desk job.
McAvoy said “I nearly passed out on [Wanted] just to do the scene where my veins were popping out my head – where they were gonna augment it with CGI veins anyway.” The actor is referring to the moment in the movie where his character has an angry outburst, and that shows physically in his red face and the visible pressure building up inside him.
Of course, that physical exertion takes its toll and for McAvoy you can understand why he was close to passing out. That suddenly makes Wanted a lot more memorable, and people may want to revisit the movie just the check out the moment again.
For more superhero movie madness, take a look at our guide to the best MCU characters, or the DC movies timeline.