James McAvoy Reveals Which X-Men Movie Was Most Difficult

Sir Patrick Stewart left a lasting mark on the character of Charles Xavier, playing Marvel's Professor X in the original X-Men trilogy. Following in his footsteps was always going to be a difficult task for any actor. James McAvoy took on a younger version of Charles in 2011's X-Men: First Class and reprising the role in several subsequent films. In the eyes of most fans, McAvoy could not have done a better job following Stewart, which made their face-to-face in X-Men: Days of Future Past such an exciting moment.

According to McAvoy, that timeline-hopping adventure in 2014 was the most difficult of any of his X-Men movies. During a panel at Calgary Expo this year (per Agents of Fandom), McAvoy was asked about Days of Future Past, and he said that it challenged his acting in a way that other movies hadn't.

"I got more of an acting workout than I think I've had in any other movie," McAvoy said. "It was so deep and focused so much on Charles' story. It was as much of an acting workout as any non-comic book movie I've ever done."

The character of Charles Xavier also explores a lot of deep, emotional material, which can cause the role to be more taxing on whoever is playing him. McAvoy went on to open up about what he learned from his time as Professor X and the real-life lessons he took with him.

"You got to be careful that you're not hurting people because you're pursuing a higher, good, righteous goal," the actor explained. "The self-obsession and self-absorption that a good person can have... I'm gonna try and keep an eye on myself."

McAvoy starred in a total of four films as Charles Xavier: X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). He also reprised the role for a brief cameo in Deadpool 2. 

After stepping away from the role in 2017's Logan, Patrick Stewart also returned for a small Professor X cameo, appearing in 2022's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.