It’s ironic that James McAvoy chose a musical biopic for his directorial debut. The actor “never responded that well to musicals or biopics,” he recently told Vanity Fair —“and my first film is just that.”

California Schemin’, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last weekend, tells the true story of a struggling Scottish rap duo, played by newcomers Seamus McLean Ross and Samuel Bottomley , who decide to remake their image by posing as two American rappers from California. They wind up with a record deal and living in London as they expand their fan base—but things fall apart as their fame grows and people begin to uncover their Scottish roots.

Last week, Vanity Fair and the St. Regis Hotel in Toronto hosted a Little Gold Men live with McAvoy an

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