James McAvoy confirms he had to melt a copy of the videogame Elder Scrolls

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He was starring in a film with Anne Hathaway – and James McAvoy realised he had an Elder Scrolls addiction problem. 2007’s romantic drama Becoming Jane was one of the early breakthrough roles for James McAvoy. Co-starring Anne Hathaway, Julie Walters, James Cromwell and the late Dame Maggie Smith, it came off the back of ... James McAvoy confirms he had to melt a copy of the videogame Elder Scrolls

He was starring in a film with Anne Hathaway – and James McAvoy realised he had an Elder Scrolls addiction problem.

2007’s romantic drama Becoming Jane was one of the early breakthrough roles for James McAvoy. Co-starring Anne Hathaway, Julie Walters, James Cromwell and the late Dame Maggie Smith, it came off the back of a run of roles including The Last King Of Scotland, The Chronicles Of Narnia and the much-loved Starter for 10. His star was very much in the ascendancy.

However, as he’s openly admitted in a recent conversation over on Reddit, the whole movie and its production let to, er, a change in his relationship with one of the Elder Scrolls videogames.

He’s chatted in the past about his love of the games, and there had been a story that he’d had to burn a copy of Elder Scrolls because he got so hooked on it, it was getting in the way of his work and life.

McAvoy has taken the opportunity now to correct this story. “I melted it, I didn’t burn it”, he explained.

“I was getting addicted to Elder Scrolls and I was working in Ireland at the time. doing a film with Anne Hathaway called Becoming Jane, and I kept coming home and playing it and playing it and playing it.”

The problem was that after filming one day, he got back to where he was stopping, and played it through the night. The following morning, “my driver was at the door and I hadn’t slept at all. I had pretty big scenes and big acting to do, and I’m a young actor still, I’ve got to fight for my place and do my job right, and it was getting in the way of it.”

This was the moment he had to force himself to stop playing the game. He took drastic action.

“Before I got in the shower and before I left the house,with the driver, I turned on the electric cooker, let [it] get really hot, and I just put the CD on it. I corrupted and melted the CD. I liberated myself from Elder Scrolls.”

Small turning point moments in a film career right there, folks. The Reddit chat can be found here.

Please do not try melting a copy of Elder Scrolls at home, to be clear. Or at work. Or anywhere. You’re not suing us…