Rhiannon Ingle
James McAvoy has opened up about how he and his wife, Lisa Liberati, secretly had a second baby together four years ago.
The 46-year-old Scottish actor, who tied the knot with American producer Liberati, 47, back in 2022, shares his eldest son, Brendan, 15, with his ex-wife, Anne-Marie Duff.
McAvoy and Shameless star Duff, 55, split in 2016 after 10 years of marriage.
Speaking in a new interview with The Guardian, which was published yesterday (31 March), the X-Men: Days of Future Past A-lister revealed that he welcomed a child when he was 42.
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"Having a kid at 42 is definitely easier in some ways," he said.
Reflecting on the differences he noticed between becoming a parent when he was younger, compared to being an older man, McAvoy shared: "I worry less.
"I’m a bit more philosophical."
He continued: "But it's also harder, because you're just older and tireder."
McAvoy also discussed how age has impacted his personal life.
"I’m getting all that first-timer stress in my 40s. When we were shooting the film, I’d wake up at 2.30 am with the film buzzing in my head," he said, suggesting that starting a career is a young man’s game.
"That’s the time that you work your socks off, burn the midnight oil, run the extra mile – and usually when you’re doing that, you’re in your 20s."
McAvoy and Liberati are based in London, 'but a wee bit in Philly', where Liberati’s family reside.
In February 2022, the Atonement star revealed in another interview with The Guardian that he and Liberati had married in a private wedding ceremony.
They first met on the set of Split, where Liberati was working as director M. Night Shyamalan's personal assistant.
A few years later, the pair started dating before McAvoy eventually confirmed that they had tied the knot.
The outlet reported at the time that the award-winning actor declined to offer further comment 'for fear of creating tabloid fodder'.
Speaking with Mr Porter back in 2017, McAvoy admitted that while his life changed 'massively' following his divorce from Duff, he was still keen to keep his personal life private.
"At the same time, so much has stayed the same. One of the things that's stayed the same is that I still don't talk about my personal life, really," the Speak No Evil actor resolved.
"Me and Anne-Marie, when we were together, it was our policy not to speak about each other in public," McAvoy added. "We rarely broke that, and if we did, it was for tiny things - 'Yes, we are cooking turkey this Christmas' - and that policy still stands."
"Even separated," he continued, "we're still respectful of each other and committed to doing that publicly and personally."