James McAvoy was reportedly punched by a man while attending the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend.
The 46-year-old was in the Canadian city to debut his upcoming film California Schemin’, a Scottish biopic which marks his directorial debut.
It has now been reported that McAvoy was hit by a stranger in a Toronto bar on Monday (September 8).
The Atonement star was said to be at the Toronto bar Charlotte’s Room when a man hit him just before midnight.
McAvoy was reportedly ‘caught off guard’ and ‘tried to deescalate the situation’ as others intervened to remove the man from the bar, according to People.
A source told the publication: ‘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.
‘James’s back was to him and the man just punched him.’
The source went on to tell the publication that McAvoy stayed at the bar after the incident and ‘laughed off’ the incident with fellow patrons and the bar staff.
McAvoy’s upcoming directorial debut is inspired by the true story of Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd, two aspiring rappers from Dundee, Scotland.
When they are turned away by the London music industry in the noughties, because of their accents, the Dundee hip hop duo pretend to be Californian, rebranding themselves as Silibil N’ Brains.
In the film, the pair go on to con music producers out of thousands.
The real-life Bain and Boyd clinched a record deal with Sony UK and went on to make a number of albums which were never released.
After two years of living a lie, during which the pair also made the most of life as a recording artist and were prone to infighting, their facade cracked.
The pair then left the music industry. Boyd is now understood to work in the oil industry, while Bain continued his solo career under the moniker Brains.
During a Q&A at the film festival, McAvoy said he wanted his directorial debut to be a Scottish project.
‘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,’ he said ahead of the film’s world premiere in Toronto.
‘I wanted my debut to be Scottish, because we’re underrepresented. 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.’
Metro contacted James McAvoy’s representative and Charlotte’s Bar for comment.
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