James McAvoy to Make Directorial Debut

Scottish actor James McAvoy is set to make his feature directorial debut with an untitled music biopic about Californian rap duo, Silibil N’ Brains.

The movie depicts the true story of two Scottish lads from Dundee who conned the international music industry by adopting American accents and pretending to establish the Silibil N’ Brains.

In the late 90’s, Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd had their musical ambitions consistently ridiculed for having the ‘wrong’ accents so they went for broke and reinvented themselves as Californian rappers. 

The untitled movie will show how the duo re-recorded their own tracks with fake accents and turned up in London claiming to be an established duo on the Cali scene as well as childhood friends with Eminem. 

They quickly bagged themselves a record deal, a hefty sum in advances, and an appearance on MTV…until it all came crashing down.

In a statement, McAvoy said: “What these two young men from Dundee attempted beggars belief and I can’t wait to bring this absolutely incredible, and also very Scottish/Californian story to the cinema. Using Scottish talent behind and in front of the camera is something I’m passionate about and I’m over the moon to be making my directorial debut in my homeland,".

"The film will first and foremost be a celebration of the Scottish spirit, but the ‘Silibil N’ Brains’ duo’s audacious fakery can’t help but appeal to audiences worldwide.”

The movie is being produced by Homefront Productions led by veteran Scottish producer Guy J Louthan (The Wilds) and will begin shooting next year with the majority of the production set to take place in Scotland. 

The story formed the basis of Bain’s 2010 memoir "California Schemin’" (later reprinted as Straight Outta Scotland) and was adapted into the 2013 SXSW documentary "The Great Hip Hop Hoax".

X-Men and The Last King Of Scotland star is currently in production on the Blumhouse horror movie "Speak No Evil" and will next be seen in Legendary’s "The Book Of Clarence".