James McAvoy claims new horror film 'toxic' character was inspired by Andrew Tate

James McAvoy has said his character in the new horror film Don’t say anything bad was inspired by controversial and “toxic” influencer Andrew Tate.

The Scottish actor plays Paddy, a British family man with a dark secret, in the new film, an adaptation of an acclaimed 2022 Danish film of the same name.

Talk to Empire (via Deadline), McAvoy explained: “What I thought I could exploit in the character is that he thinks he’s a bit of a… West Country Andrew Tate.”

The 45-year-old said: “He says, ‘I’m going to teach you how to be a man again’. But he’s got a sort of polished face that’s not quite Andrew Tate, bright enough to say, ‘I’m not one of those guys’. (Paddy) challenges you: ‘Do you have a big enough dick to have a drink with me?’, or ‘I’m sorry, this is too much for you because you’re not real enough’.”

“I wanted something a little bit agricultural,” McAvoy adds. “I had two big visual references. One was the Australian term ‘bogan,’ which can be associated with a certain level of toxic masculinity. And the other was the character Rooster in Jerusalemplayed brilliantly by Mark Rylance.”

McAvoy added that the character has “almost a Ray Winstone in Sexy beast vibe: “I don’t mind if my belly sticks out because that’s how comfortable I am with a man.”

The original film tells the story of a Danish family on holiday in Italy who befriend a Dutch family in Tuscany and are then invited to their home in the Netherlands. After accepting the invitation, the Danish family soon realises that all is not well with their Dutch friend and things take a turn for the worse.

Actor James McAvoy (left) and controversial influencer Andrew Tate (right), who McAvoy says inspired his new horror film role (Getty Images/AP)

The remake switches the nationalities of the families, British and American respectively, with Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy’s family visiting an idyllic estate, home to McAvoy, Aisling Franciosi and Dan Hough.

Misogynist Andrew Tate is currently under house arrest in his home in Romania for 30 days as prosecutors investigate a sprawling new case involving allegations of human trafficking of minors and sex with a minor.

The Tate brothers, both former kickboxers and British and American citizens, are already awaiting trial in Romania in a separate human trafficking case, alongside two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally charged the four men last year.