James McAvoy admits he was only cast in His Dark Materials as bosses were ‘let down last minute’ by original Lord Asriel

JAMES McAvoy has admitted he was only cast in His Dark Materials as bosses were "let down last minute" by the original Lord Asriel.

The new BBC drama has an all-star cast including Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda and James, 40.

But speaking to the Radio Times, James admitted he was a last minute addition to the series, as another actor was originally meant to play the explorer, but pulled out days before production began.

He said: "It was actually very last minute – I happened to be chatting to the casting director, who’s a friend of mine, waxing lyrical about how much I love the books, and then they got let down by whoever else was doing it originally.

"So she called me up and said ‘Do you think you can start on Monday?’ That was on the Friday!

“I think they’d possibly been let down by a couple of people last minute."

Thankfully, being such a big fan of the Philip Pullman novels meant he didn't need lots of time to prepare for the role of Lord Asriel.

He added: "I know that character inside out, I know the books inside out, so I just hit the ground running.

"I was prepared for it without having to prepare for it. I have a vision of that character, and I have a belief or certain goals and beliefs for what that character should achieve, and what should come across.

“But I’m not just a fan – I actually deeply care about the books – so I would hate to watch this and go ‘Oh, that’s not the Lord Asriel I’ve always wanted to see!’ And I’m playing it!”

His Dark Materials starts on Sunday, November 3 on BBC One.

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