James McAvoy has claimed he was bullied by a fellow actor on the set of Band of Brothers during his first day filming the acclaimed war drama.
The Scottish actor, now 47, opened up about the experience during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where he was shown a photograph of several of his former co-stars.
McAvoy, who appeared in the 2001 HBO miniseries, refused to identify the actor he accused of bullying him but confirmed that the individual was among those pictured.
The actor explained that the incident happened when he was fresh out of acting school and just starting out in the profession.
Speaking to host Andy Cohen, McAvoy recalled arriving on set to film a scene in a bar alongside a large group of actors who had already spent months working on the series.
“On my first day on set, there was a ton of actors, it was one of those scenes with everybody in it, and we're all at a bar, I had a scene,” he said.
He explained that many of the actors had been working on the production for nine or 10 months, often receiving only a single line in an episode.
McAvoy, meanwhile, had joined the cast for one episode and had a more substantial role, with multiple scenes and plenty of dialogue.
He suggested that the difference had caused resentment among some of the established cast members.
“They were all peeved. I come in for one episode, and I've got an arc and scenes, I've got tonnes of lines,” he said.
McAvoy then described how one actor allegedly decided to target him on his first day.
“So, one of the guys in that picture decided to bully me, on my first day as a professional actor out of acting school. He got him and his buddies to just stand pointing at me and laughing at me for, like, three minutes,” he recalled.
Although McAvoy did not reveal the actor's identity, he discussed the photograph with Cohen as he tried to work out whether the person was among those pictured.
The image featured Frank John Hughes, Ross McCall, Neal McDonough, Philip Barantini, Adam James, Donnie Wahlberg, Kirk Acevedo and Scott Grimes.
McAvoy also made it clear that David Schwimmer was not the person he was referring to, as the Friends star was not included in the photograph.
The incident took place early in McAvoy's career, before he went on to become one of Britain's best-known actors, with roles in films including Atonement, The Last King of Scotland and the X-Men franchise.
Band of Brothers was produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and followed the men of Easy Company, part of the US Army's 101st Airborne Division, during the Second World War.
The 10-part series premiered in 2001 and was widely praised for its portrayal of the soldiers' experiences, from their training to the final stages of the war.
McAvoy played Private James W. Miller in the series, which was among his early screen credits.
Despite his brief appearance, the production formed part of the actor's journey towards a successful international career.
