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James McAvoy was reportedly punched by a man while at a bar in Toronto on Monday.
The actor, 46, was in Canada for the premiere of his directorial debut California Schemin’ at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.
While having a quiet night at the bar the following evening with his wife Lisa Liberati, James was reportedly hit by a stranger at 11:55pm.
Caught off guard, the actor tried to deescalate the situation while others intervened to remove the man.
A source told People: ‘James was having a casual get-together with the producers of his movie and, as he later learned when speaking with the staff, there was a man who drank too much who was getting escorted out.’
The insider added that James stayed at the bar and even laughed off the incident with other patrons.
The Daily Mail has contacted both James’ representatives and Charlotte’s Room for comment.
James’ new film tells the story of a Dundee hip hop duo who swindle thousands from music producers by pretending to be Californian.
The actor told how he chose to direct the film because the Scots accent is ‘underrepresented’.
‘I wanted my debut to be Scottish, because we’re underrepresented,’ he said.
‘And this film is partly about one of the reasons that you don’t have more Scottish films.
‘The noise that comes out of our mouths alienates people. They think it’s exotic. They think we’re talking about kilts or porridge, but they can’t listen to it for an hour and a half.’
The new director said most screenplays that came his way were set on Scottish housing estates and resonated with his working-class Glaswegian roots. But they lacked hope.
He added: ‘I’m a very privileged first-time director, being a relatively successful actor after 30 years.
‘This came along and I saw an opportunity to tell a story about people with limited horizons, yet still be aspirational and entertaining and comedic.’
‘California Schemin’ follows Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, talented performers whose accents provoked laughter from executives at an audition in London.
They returned, reinvented as riotous southern Californians with fresh tunes and swagger by the bucketload.
In the film, McAvoy, whose acting credits include Wanted, Atonement, Split and Speak No Evil, plays a snarling producer who signs the Eminem-loving rappers to his label and launches them on the path to fame.
In reality, Bain and Boyd landed a deal with Sony UK and recorded a handful of unreleased albums.
After two years of living a lie, combined with excessive drinking and frequent infighting, the facade cracked and that was their exit from the industry.
Boyd, left the music industry and now works in the oil industry. Bain continued his solo career under the moniker ‘Brains’.
