Anthony Harvey/Getty ImagesJames McAvoy isn't one to go into grave detail about his personal life. He's an actor, not a tabloid obsession, and he'll keep it that way, thank you very much.
However, he's also not able to brush off certain questions as easily as he'd like. Case in point: the topic of his divorce from his wife of nine years, Anne-Marie Duff.
The 37-year-old actor sat down for an interview with Mr Porter, giving at least a little bit of insight into his personal life, like ,his no alcohol (especially whiskey) policy in the house.
"That used to be my drink—a peaty Talisker, or a Laphroaig," he told the publication. "But I find that I can't drink too much whisky any more. More than one or two now and I get a bit leery, a wee bit fighty, a bit chippy, looking for an argument. And I didn't like that. So I mostly stopped drinking it. My problem is, if I have it in the house, I'll tan the lot."
And speaking of his life at home, he can't help but admit that it's much different these days.
"My life has changed massively," he responded when asked about his split from Duff. "At the same time so much has stayed the same. One of the things that's stayed the same is that I still don't talk about my personal life, really."
He continued, "Me and Anne-Marie, when we were together, it was our policy not to speak about each other in public. We rarely broke that and if we did, it was for tiny things—'Yes, we are cooking turkey this Christmas'—and that policy still stands. Even separated, we're still respectful of each other and committed to doing that publicly and personally."
But in a true Scotsman manner, he does admit, "Yeah, things are really good, which is a rubbish, pat answer."
Despite the split and going through a divorce with her, he only has the highest regards for Duff.
In fact, while telling an anecdote about the time he almost said no to a Prada advertising campaign for a very hefty paycheck, he revealed how the Shameless actress motivated him to take it.
"The money was incredible," he recalled. "And Anne-Marie kept saying to me, 'Are you gonna turn that down?' 'Yeah I'm gonna turn that down. I'm not a salesman.' ‘You're being a d--k. Do something with it. Give it to charity.'"
He continued, "And I was like, 'Ding!' About four minutes after she said that to me I was on the phone to the agent. 'Yeah, I'll do it.'"
He ended up giving a third of the money to Unicef, a third to Retrak (a Ugandan organization that helps children) and a third to a new scholarship.
But when asked if he'd do a campaign again, he quipped, "Maybe. Depending on what it is. I don't think I would do a Nespresso." Sorry, George Clooney.
Read McAvoy's full interview with Mr Porter here.