James McAvoy

katiejane

Has anyone else seen the story at the bottom of page 4 of today's London Paper, about JMc 'shunning the LA lifestyle in favour of a tiny flat in an unglamorous corner of north London'. (The journo obviously hasn't experienced the delights of SG estate yet!)

They also add that him and Anne-Marie Duff: 'share a ten-year old Micra' and...wait for it...shop in their local Budgens supermarket'!!

He'll be getting my vote come the Oscars...

andy

It's [here](http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/article-23433229-details/The+modest+heart-throb:+Atonement+star+James+McAvoy's+tiny+flat+and+£1,000+Nissan+Micra/article.do), along with a picture of his flat. There's also a great comment from "Stroud and Proud". *"Stroud Green, far from fashionable area of North London." *Stroud Green is home to a rising number of stars and fashionable creative types who make it fashionable, but equally couldn't give two hoots what the likes of the Standard think of it. Actually, once the ES starts declaring the area's desirability it'll be all over... - Stroud And Proud, Stroud Green, London, UK

andy

Also, shopping in that Budgens is not cheap! It's dead expensive. You could go to M&S Simply Food and save money.

katiejane

so long as you don't stop for a bite to eat at the Italian food hall. Har har!

Thanks for the link Andy - what a God (James McAvoy that is though I'm sure you're not far off!)

andy

I think the comment makes a good point - as soon as the Evening Standard says it's good to live in sgr, it's time to go.

Four Eyes

We need to hijack that page on the ES site with comments but I'm too tired at the moment to think of any.

SG is a 'celebrity' haven at the moment... Last Friday I saw Dev from Coronation Street outside Nandos only then to go to the World's End to see that I'm a 'celebrity' tw** Marc Bannerman.

magicP

Excellent comments from Stroud and Proud!

I have seen Dev from Corrie once on the Tube and once in Crouch End, but not on SGR so far...

Liz

James McAvoy has featured on these hallowed pages before too - quite a long way down this thread: <http://www.stroudgreen.org/comments.php?DiscussionID=450>; I am impressed that I've only managed to mention that on SG.org once, I was so excited. Ages ago, I also shared a taxi from Milton Keynes to London with the lovely James M (long story, suffice to say it was Virgin Trains' fault) - just after State of Play had been on the telly. He was living in Gillespie Road at that point, and debating whether to go and do a big American soap which he'd been offered. Good choice, I'd say.

poxy

To complete this episode of stalking would someone be so kind as to put a marker in the directory for Mr MacAvoy's house? We probably need a new category, as well.

< /sarcasm >

tosscat

I've tried to have a think where it is, but I can't. I might do a recce with the picture sometime.

andy

Let's respect the man. Such gauche stalking might suit grotty Evening-Standard-Approved areas like Notting Hill, but in SGR it's a little infra dig.

flembo

I saw it too and was horrified. I presume it's just lazy journalism and the fact that he doesn't live in Bishop's Avenue means he must live in an unfashionalbe area. I found it quite insulting to McAvoy and Duff. First they say they live in a grotty flat and then slag them off for having a car that's 10 years old. I suppose if he had a porsche and a posh house, he'd be slagged off for being out of touch with reality.

If not having a Starbucks means we're unfashionable, then I'm glad.

flembo

I also thought Budgens was in Crouch End?

tosscat

I don't know what 'infra dig' means. Should I bother to look it up?

dominic

adj.
"Beneath one's dignity."

I had to look it up too.

Personally I think the ES is hostis humani generis

tosscat

Nemo gratis mendax

SimonB

Ah yes ... bumping into JM in CATS ... happy days

The ginger monkey

That piece really got my goat. Not only did it slag off our good manor, but also So what if there are famous people who don't want to lord it up over the rest of the world because they're actually good at pretending to be Scottish Doctors in Uganda or Queen Elizabeth.

I'm a bit calmer now but I did write a stroppy letter to the London Paper which they never published.

tosscat

Amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant.

andy

<http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/brian/brian-08.htm>; reminds me of this, which was on TV last week

katiejane

puer, puella

dion

i know where the flat is but am not telling - it is in SG though not CE.

the budgens reference is a bit misleading.

dion

and the whole thing is a grotesque invasion of privacy

andy

which is the last thing you would expect from the London Paper.

tosscat

And now the article has been referenced in the Observer - Carole, if you're out there, let us know. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2245935,00.html

andy

and it continues. Caitlin Moran of the Times shops in that Budgens too. *Don’t you dare diss Budgens* *Last week, the Daily Mail (always a reliable collection of the day’s maddest thoughts) had a story about the handsome, successful, talented British actor James McAvoy. “Despite” being nominated for a Bafta for his role in Atonementand “earning millions” for his roles in The Chronicles of Narnia and the upcoming Wanted with Angelina Jolie, he and his actress wife, the lovely Anne-Marie Duff, live in a “humble, tiny second floor-flat” in the “far from fashionable” North London area of Stroud Green. “Their car is a Nissan worth less that £1,000,” the Mail fretted, before adding, “and the couple shop in their local Budgens.”* *Now hang on a minute. Hang on a minute. I turned a blind eye when the Mail laid into Eastern European immigrants, abortion, working mothers, homosexuals, the NHS, the welfare state, Hillary Clinton, Stephen Fry and any scientific or sociopolitical advancement after 1878, but here – right here – I draw the line. Not Budgens, Daily Mail! Not on my watch! Not in my name! I go to that Budgens. And that Budgens is amazing. It has a whole section of produce grown within a 30-mile radius. It sells hemp bags. It sells homemade sticky-toffee puddings made by an old lady. It’s all “heritage sausages” this, and “grab-bags of sunflower seeds sprinkled with sweet smoked paprika” that. McAvoy, I can assure you, isn’t sitting around in a string vest, living on Dairylea Dunkers and cans of Nurishment. Or if he is, he’s not getting them from Budgens.* <http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/caitlin_moran/article3295063.ece?openComment=true>;

Liz

The Times clearly pay her too much. For a whole variety of reasons.

dion

http://www.talkingretail.com/reports/5541/Profile-Andrew-Thornton-Budgen.ehtml

This Budgens is obviously not representative of 'normal' budgens - hence the semi-celebrity following. A weird franchise thingy.

matt

Same sort of thing with Londis on Ferme Park Road, it's head and shoulders above all other Londis I have ever seen in my life. Both shops are quite expensive, in my opinion

tosscat

I often shop at the Ferme Park Londis and it is expensive, but I am always aghast at how expensive Budgens is - quite incredible.

matt

I concur