James McAvoy Nails a Philly Accent Playing an Eagles Fan in SNL's "Charmin" Sketch
The Scottish Speak No Evil star was perhaps inspired by his wife, a Philadelphia native he met on the set of Split.
James McAvoy might Speak No Evil in his new horror thriller, but he was speaking in a perfect Philadelphia accent in this Saturday Night Live sketch.
Though the actor is from Scotland, McAvoy got to show off his impression of a Philadelphian in "Charmin" from his January 26, 2019, episode.
In the sketch, SNL Season 44 cast member Aidy Bryant plays a Charmin employee who is leading the focus group. She's just showed a toilet paper commercial to participants played by Kate McKinnon, Kyle Mooney, Kenan Thompson, and McAvoy.
All of the focus group members have some strong reactions to the ad featuring the animated Charmin bears — but McAvoy steals the show with his impressive accent work.
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McAvoy's character is a Philadelphia Eagles fan (or as locals tend to pronounce it, "Iggles fan"), dressed in a jersey for the football team. McAvoy's character also has some pretty wild pitches for how Charmin could improve the Super Bowl commercial — including sending one of the cartoon bears down into a toilet bowl to fight monsters of the underworld(?).
McAvoy's accent work got a positive review from Philadelphia magazine, which said it was "a solid effort." His impression even left one viewer wondering: "Are we sure James McAvoy isn’t actually from Philly and is just faking his Scottish accent?"
James McAvoy's wife is from Philadelphia
While James McAvoy hails from Scotland, his wife Lisa Liberati is from Philadelphia, PA.
The two originally met in 2016 on the set of M. Night Shyamalan's Split. The supernatural thriller starred McAvoy, and Liberati was Shyamalan's personal assistant.
The two started dating a couple years later, and in a February 2022 interview with The Guardian, the actor revealed that they had recently gotten married.
Since Liberati is from Philadelphia, he told The Guardian how the City of Brotherly Love feels "like a second home for me." McAvoy also ventures outside of Philly to other PA landmarks like Hershey Park and Dorney Park, which he talked about when he stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on September 11.
"I've been to Hershey Park twice now. It's an amazing place, he told Seth Meyers as he showed pictures of the actor in the parks. "I've got to tell you, Dorney Park is pretty special."
Watch "Charmin" from Season 44, Episode 11 of Saturday Night Live above, and stream every season on Peacock anytime.
