James McAvoy reveals he was a replacement to Joaquin Phoenix in one of his most iconic roles

James McAvoy has revealed he replaced Joaquin Phoenix in a role that was probably one of his greatest performances.

From the UK’s grimy Shameless TV show, to being known as Professor X in X Men: First Class, the Scottish actor has been a staple on the big screen for decades now.

However, you’ll probably know him best as playing a man with multiple personalities in a mind-bending thriller.

But it could have all panned out differently had Phoenix not dropped out just 'two weeks' before it started filming.

James McAvoy has played some iconic characters (Universal Pictures)

Playing a man called Kevin Wendell Crumb, McAvoy had to embody someone with dissociative identity disorder.

The condition came in the form of over twenty different personalities living inside of Kevin, who had eventually been pushed ‘away from the light’ in order for other people to take over his life as they began to scheme against the world.

It was a hefty film, which was heavily praised for its execution.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, 2016’s Split is one you won’t forget about after watching.

Speaking to Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, McAvoy revealed that Phoenix had 'ditched' the film just before shooting was scheduled to take place.

He said: “He's an amazing actor. I think he'd give a very different performance to the one I did. Sometimes, coming in last minute is the best way.

“I think he ditched it like two weeks before they started shooting. It was really last minute. The script was well put together, so a lot of it was pretty clear what I actually wanted to do straight away.

“There was a couple of characters it took a little bit longer to find. Patricia came real quick, Dennis came real quick, Hedwig took a little while.”

His performance in Split is like no other (Universal Pictures)

McAvoy continued: “I hadn't even found some of the characters and then it just came on really quick, and then Night actually said to me, ‘I want you to give Hedwig a speech impediment,’ and I was like, ‘What, just at the last minute? You want me to just go for it?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, we need to try something.’ So, we did it in the read through and after one scene of doing it, were like, ‘Done!’”

It appears that McAvoy was the right man for the job as Split became the best-received film that Shyamalan had directed since Signs in 2002.

It also went a long way in reigniting the world of Glass and Unbreakable.

Last month reports emerged that Phoenix had dropped out of a project from director Todd Haynes at the last minute.

Though during a press conference for Joker 2 at the Venice Film Festival, Phoenix reportedly said: "It would just be sharing my opinion and the other creatives aren’t here to share their piece.

"It doesn’t feel like that would be right. I don’t think that would be helpful so I just don’t think I will. Thank you."

UNILAD has contacted representatives for Joaquin Phoenix for comment.