James McAvoy who portrayed yet another of his spell bounding performances in X-Men: First Class as Professor X, celebrates his birthday today.

The Scottish theatre actor who made his debut with The Near Room in 1995 never looked back ever since.

But acting was not what James had always wanted to do when he was a teen. Though he enjoyed doing his brief stint in The Near Room, he had applied to the Royal Navy and had already been accepted when he was also offered a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. 

He proved his aptitude with each succeeding film and won him the BAFTA Scotland Award for his critically acclaimed film The Last King of Scotland. He also received Empire Award for Best Actor and London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year for his unmatched performance in the movie Atonement. His role of Mr Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is unforgettable and much adored by the little ones.  

James is also a noted voice over artiste and has lent his voice for animated movies like Gnomeo and Juliet, Arthur Christmas and Strings. 

The actor is currently working for his forthcoming films Trance directed by th e Academy Award winner Danny Boyle which is set to release in 2013.

FM wishes James a Very Happy Birthday.