30 GQ.COM.AU FEBRUARY 2017
the SOURCELA LA LAND,MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
ANDLOVINGFILMI
t sounds twisted,
butifwehadto
sum upSplitin
asinglewordit
wouldbe‘fun’.
Not the term
that springs to
mind for M Night
Shyamalan’s previous work
SignsorThe Sixth Sense,but
bear with us.Splitcentres
on Kevin (McAvoy) who
suffers from dissociative
identity disorder and
juggles 23 personalities or
‘alters’. When he kidnaps
three teenagers and hides
them in a Fritzl-like bunker,
nine of the alters – which
range from the dark to the
downrightsassy–startto
reveal themselves. Though
being a Shyamalan flick, no
prizesforguessingwhich
kind make up for most of
thefilm.Fun?Well,not
only does it look like the
(literally) multifaceted
Mr McAvoy is having a
seriously good time, but
thefilmprovesawildride
for the audience, too.
“You know what? It was
so much fun. Maybe I’m
abitofashowoff,Idon’t
know. I’m a hammy actor,”
he laughs in his trademark
Scottish drawl. “Frankly,
youjustdothejobyou
always do, but nine times
over.Ihadtofigureout
why every single character
came into existence and
what their key attribute is
that made them necessary.
ThenIhadtobuildthe
characters around them.”
Quitethe headfuck.
Alessertalentmighthave
struggled, but McAvoy
carries the film on his
shoulders. Still, actors of
his calibre don’t just rockup, sunglasses on after a
night on the tiles, and stand
wherethey’retold.Evenif
McAvoy did prep that way
forFilth(he’s a proud Scot,
afterall).Forafilmlikethis,
there’sanunseengrind.
“You’redoing the job
ofninefilmsinthetime
ittakestomakeone,”he
says. “Artistically, it was
satisfying, exciting. Just
trying to squeeze it all in,
time-wise, was hard. There
were a lot of late nights
whereIhadtostayupand
do a tonne of work. But it
was a pleasure to do.”
Shyamalan approached
McAvoy with the simple
offer of “a massive thing”,
and he jumped.
“I started reading and
seeing what it was about
thematically. Things that
trouble us, haunt us, our
tragedies, our tortures in
life,” says the 37-year-old,
“they can make us. That’s
a really positive message
andonethatIthinkis
notalwaystrue,butit’s
certainlytrueformein
my life.”
Kevin’s alters make
himfluxbetweenhero
and villain, his physical
attributes change and
he becomes almost
unrecognisable between
personalities. “It’s the crux
of any Disney movie and
the crux of all superheroes
and super villains – bad shit
happensandyouturninto
these super-human people
becauseofit.Ilovethat.”
McAvoy pauses, semi-
smugly.“Ontopofthat,
itwasalsoanopportunity
formetodolotsofacting
–andIloveacting.”
Split is in cinemas January 19JAMES
McAVOY
PLAYING NINE DIFFERENT
CHARACTERS IN ONE FILM
MIGHTBEACHALLENGEFOR
MOST ACTORS. BUT MOST
ACTORS AREN’T JAMES McAVOY.