‘Glass’ Star James McAvoy Opens up About Near Death Experience Before Hosting ‘SNL’

Glass star James McAvoy said he almost died last year after routine surgery resulted in an infection.

In an interview with Men’s Journal, the Saturday Night Live host said he went to his doctor for a physical, since he was nearing 40. His doctors spotted a shadow on an X-ray of his lung, so they did a biopsy out of precaution.

While it was not serious, his wound from the surgery became infected. What should have been a one-day trip to the hospital turned into three bed-ridden weeks.

“It nearly killed me,” the X-Men: Days of Future Past actor told Men’s Journal. “It was very scary. A terrifying f–ing thing to go through.”

Even after he recovered from the surgery, his doctors did not give him straight answers. He said he noticed one of his abdominal muscles was missing after the surgery, and even that did not get a straight-forward response.

“Hmm, are you sure it was there before the surgery?” his doctor replied.

McAvoy usually does not discuss his private life, which he has found difficult to balance with his work. The actor has an 8-year-old son, Brendan, with ex-wife Anne-Marie Duff. He also mourned the death of his mother last year.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slagging off my industry,” he told Men’s Journal. “I love my job. Love it…. But there’s got to be more balance.”

The Scottish actor started his career as a teen in the mid-1990s, racking up dozens of film and television credits, including a role in the original British version of Shameless opposite Duff. In 2006 and 2007, he broke through internationally with The Last King of Scotland and Atonement. McAvoy became a global star as Professor X in the X-Men prequels, starting with 2011’s X-Men: First Class. He plays the role for a fourth time in the upcoming Dark Phoenix.

“I mean, everything gets normalized after a while,” McAvoy said of the attention he receives. “But what you’ve got to do as it’s getting normalized is to remember that everybody just has their role to play. And even though I was the focal point this morning, that’s just my role. It’s not like I deserve it. And by the way, nobody else who was there is f–ing thinking to themselves: ‘Wow, what a guy!’”

McAvoy can now be seen in M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass, the follow-up to Unbreakable and Split. Dark Phoenix opens on June 7. It: Chapter Two, in which McAvoy plays Bill Denbrough, opens on Sept. 6.

The actor hosts this weekend’s SNL, with musical guest Meek Mill. SNL starts at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images