Interview With "California Schemin'" Director James McAvoy

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James McAvoy (1:00)

College football is back.

Emma Cacik (1:01)

So Hilton called on me, the superstition concierge to make your fan rituals a reality.

SPEAKER_4 (1:06)

Need a room to match your lucky number?

Emma Cacik (1:08)

We got you.

James McAvoy (1:09)

Want to make sure our team doesn't wash your lucky jersey?

SPEAKER_5 (1:12)

That smells lucky.

SPEAKER_1 (1:14)

Hilton's unmatched hospitality can keep up with any superstition.

James McAvoy (1:18)

Even a marching band wake up call at 555 in 55 seconds. Hit it! When you need a team that will do whatever it takes on game day, it matters where you stay.

SPEAKER_4 (1:27)

Hilton, for the stay.

SPEAKER_5 (1:30)

You are listening to The Next Best Picture Podcast, and this is Emma Sasek's interview with the director for California Schemin, James McAvoy.

James McAvoy (1:39)

So what's your story?

SPEAKER_5 (1:40)

Well, we grew up together.

Emma Cacik (1:41)

Yeah, around LA.

James McAvoy (1:43)

Yeah, started rapping.

SPEAKER_5 (1:44)

Yeah, he loved Tupac. He loved Biggie. And one day we thought we'd team up.

SPEAKER_4 (1:54)

I think they could be seriously special.

James McAvoy (1:56)

We would like to sign you. You're the next D-12, the next Eminem.

Emma Cacik (2:01)

I'm fricking ready, let's go.

SPEAKER_1 (2:14)

You know that none of this is real, right?

James McAvoy (2:18)

Why isn't that real?

SPEAKER_1 (2:20)

All of it.

SPEAKER_4 (2:23)

We'll show the industry up for what it is, right? Bullshit.

Emma Cacik (2:26)

We'll come out and be fully Scottish and expose those wankers.

SPEAKER_4 (2:29)

We have Silibil N Brains.

James McAvoy (2:32)

If we're gonna do this, that means no more Scottish.

SPEAKER_5 (2:34)

We gotta walk, talk, fricking be American.

James McAvoy (2:37)

We're from California. No more Gavin and Billy.

SPEAKER_5 (2:42)

We gotta become Silibil N Brains.

SPEAKER_4 (2:48)

Stop looking back, dude.

Emma Cacik (2:49)

Give them what they want to hear.

SPEAKER_1 (2:51)

This is not what we wanted.

James McAvoy (2:53)

Now we just look like a pair of flyers in half the country and we'll zip.

Emma Cacik (2:57)

Do I know you?

SPEAKER_4 (2:58)

You told people that we knew them.

SPEAKER_5 (3:00)

I'm doing what I need to do. Do you not understand that?

SPEAKER_1 (3:04)

I think I might have screwed everything up.

SPEAKER_4 (3:13)

What'd you call yourselves, boys?

SPEAKER_5 (3:15)

We're Silibil N Brains, baby.

Emma Cacik (3:16)

For now. Hello, my name is Emma Cacik. I'm with Next Best Picture. Hi James, how are you?

James McAvoy (3:24)

Good, thank you. How are you?

Emma Cacik (3:25)

I'm doing very well. So excited to talk to you today. It's a big moment, directorial feature, that is always a very exciting time for any filmmaker.

I guess I would kind of like to start several years back, maybe when you were first really getting into movies, really understanding this whole beautiful medium. Do you remember the first time watching a film and really taking note of, wow, this is what you can do as a director. These are the types of stories that you can really bring to life and what that moment was for you.

James McAvoy (3:58)

I think probably, I mean, I was quite young at the time, probably Trainspotting, which for me is one of the best, if not the best Scottish film ever made.

And the freedom and the abandon, not the abandon, it was controlled, but the freedom in the storytelling and in the filmmaking was just so inspirational and felt like, you know, in a different way than I do in California Schemin, but like telling stories about people from the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder, but not limited to just gritty drama because of that. And I know transporting is gritty, but it's like, it's also so artistically flamboyant as well. And, you know, with my film, I wanted to tell people, tell stories about people from that end of the socioeconomic ladder, but for it still to be entertaining and mainstream in a way that it isn't always, when you finally get a movie about somebody from a council scheme or a project, they're not often that entertaining, you know what I mean, or that fun. And this gave me the opportunity to do all that. And at the same time, you know, embrace the real life consequences that, you know, Gavin very nearly suffered.