McAvoy has been in town for the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) and has presented “California Schemin’,” based on the true story of two Scottish rappers who ended up making it big in America.

“California Schemin'” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September and was then shown in Zürich, before reaching Tallinn.

McAvoy, familiar from in-front-of-the-camera appearances in movies such as “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2004), “The Last King of Scotland” (2006) and the “X-Men” movies, told Ringvaade why he brought “California Schemin'” to PÖFF as well.

“I’ve never been on a black carpet before,” he quipped. “Honestly, our distribution people were like, you have to go, it’s a really great festival, and I’ve never been, so I’m excited to get around. I got here 13 hours ago, 11 o’clock at night, and we went immediately out and wandered around and checked out everything in the dark, which is beautiful.”

He also reflected on the irony of his directorial debut being in a genre which is not his first pick.

“I’m not a particularly musical person strangely,” adding he is not particularly a rap fan either, and mainly listens to music when working out or when having a party.

The genesis of the new movie was a documentary, or rockumentary as they are sometimes known, 2013’s “The Great Hip Hop Hoax,” by Jeanie Finlay.

This tells the story of how, back in the early 2000s, southern England-based record labels refused to take the rappers, Silibil N’ Brains, real names Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, seriously. This was in part due to their strong accents (“rapping Proclaimers,” as one executive called them), hailing as they do from Bonnie Dundee.

Instead, the pair opted to head to L.A. and blag their way as Californians — American accents sharing some things in common in the vowels and in the Rs with Scottish ones — landing themselves a record deal, partying with Madonna and opening for Eminem in the process.

The tale is still considered one of the biggest hoaxes in the history of the British music industry.

McAvoy noted his choice came from a desire to make something fast paced and featuring working class people, with the fact that they were Scottish, albeit from a different town — McAvoy is from Glasgow — being the icing on the cake.
While the movie does contain its fair share of gritty aspects, McAvoy said he was keen to do more than just another movie about drug use, unemployment and domestic violence.

The rest of the interview deals with major movies he has featured in — McAvoy considers 2007’s “Atonement” his best experience so far — the importance of having a strong director and the difference between being behind the camera than in front of it.

The full Ringvaade interview can be watched by clicking on the video player below.

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