James McAvoy To Make Directorial Debut On Story Of Scottish Duo Who Got A Record Deal & More After Pretending To Be Rappers From California

Andreas Wiseman
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: X-Men and The Last King Of Scotland star James McAvoy is set to make his feature directorial debut on a movie about the true story of two Scottish lads from Dundee who conned the international music industry by adopting American accents and pretending to be established Californian rap duo, 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 currently 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.

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BAFTA winner McAvoy told us: “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 film is being produced by Homefront Productions led by veteran Scottish producer Guy J Louthan (The Wilds) and will start shooting next year with the majority of the production set to take place in Scotland. Kahleen Crawford will lead the casting, which will begin later this year.

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

Split star McAvoy is currently in production on Blumhouse horror movie Speak No Evil and will next be seen in Legendary’s The Book Of Clarence.

McAvoy is repped by United Agents, UTA, The Lede Company and Sloane Offer.

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