‘Band of Brothers’ Actor Recalls Co-Star Bullying Him On Set

More than 25 years after Band of Brothers premiered, James McAvoy recalls a co-star bullying him on set.

The actor, who was 22 years old at the time, appeared on the World War II miniseries for one episode shortly after leaving acting school.

However, during his recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, McAvoy admitted his first day on set didn’t go as well as he had hoped because of a bully.

“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,” the actor recalled. “I had a scene. And all these guys were in it for nine months, 10 months, and they get one line in one episode and one line 10 episodes later. They were all pissed. I come in for one episode, and I’ve got an arc and scenes. I’ve got tons of lines.”

He then shared, “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 laugh at me for like three minutes.”

Although he initially said he wouldn’t say who bullied him, McAvoy later confirmed in the episode that it wasn’t David Schwimmer. He also said that it wasn’t anyone in a promotional cast photo that Cohen brought to the talk show.

McAvoy noted that his other co-stars, Dexter Fletcher and Robin Laing, noticed the situation and took him under their wings.

Regarding his first set experience, the actor added, “I’d say apart from that day [my Band of Brothers experience] was a nine. But that day it felt like a two.”

Band of Brothers follows the men of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, as they train for war and fight across Europe during World War II. The show premiered in 2001 and starred Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, and Ron Livingston.