His Dark Materials' James McAvoy Was 'Quite Brutal' About Making Sure His Scenes Were Justified [Exclusive]
Fans of Philip Pullman's classic book series "His Dark Materials" have been through a lot. Originally published in 1995, the fantasy saga didn't see a big screen adaptation until 2007. Chris Weitz's "The Golden Compass" got mixed reviews and failed to capture the magic of Pullman's text — plus, it cut out some of the novel's more pointed religious commentary. It's no surprise, then, that fans of the Pullman books can be a bit precious about making sure the latest on-screen adaptation, the BBC and HBO Max series "His Dark Materials," hews close to the text.
Those fans apparently include one of the show's actors himself. James McAvoy spoke with /Film's Jamie Gerber ahead of the show's third season, and explained that on set, he was willing to go to bat for Pullman's novels to make sure the source material was adapted correctly. McAvoy says that the season 3 scripts included some Asriel scenes that weren't exactly in "The Amber Spyglass," and that he wasn't afraid to push back when he felt his character had extraneous lines or moments. When discussing Asriel's role in the new season, he says:
"There was a lot of stuff that he must be doing to make the broader narrative progress. So we were able to flesh that out and expand upon it. But there were moments where I was like, "If I'm not driving the narrative forward in this moment, I don't want to be in this scene and you might as well just cut it."
'Why are we putting Asriel in this?'
While the series starring McAvoy, Dafne Keene, and Ruth Wilson inevitably made some changes to the source material, it's stayed true to the shape of the book series with a second season that ends much like the trilogy's second installment, "The Subtle Knife." The last time we saw Lord Asriel, back in 2020's "Æsahættr," the character was calling on the angels to help face off in a multi-world war against the Authority, which is basically God. Needless to say, McAvoy's character plays a major role in the book series' endgame, and is expected to in the show as well.
But the actor says he was "quite brutal with everybody" about ensuring Asriel wasn't going off text too much. "If this is cuttable, if you were able to tell this story without this scene in it, why are we putting Asriel in this?" he says he asked. "Why are we making a new Asriel scene just to fill time or whatever?" Although McAvoy doesn't have a producer role on the series, it sounds like his feedback was considered — and sometimes met with equally passionate responses. "They were brutal back with me when I was being to gobby or too lippy," McAvoy admitted, adding, "I hope they didn't mind me being like that."
'I'm so precious about this material'
In the end, though, McAvoy says the back and forth came from "a deep love of the material." Pullman's book series is among the most recognized in children's literature, winning the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Book of the Year award and landing in third place on the BBC's poll of the UK's most-loved books in 2003. McAvoy counts himself among its fans, and says, "For me, I felt like the custodian of the integrity of that character as well." He points out that this is a role he takes on often as an actor, but concludes, "For this one, I'm so precious about this material. I love it."
While its unclear how successful McAvoy's push to cut extra Asriel scenes was, fans of the book series will no doubt be glad to hear that there are people behind the scenes working to ensure that "His Dark Materials" pulls off the accurate ending its beloved source material deserves.