Honestly, if you grew up in the late 2000s, there was one movie image that basically defined "cool": Angelina Jolie leaning out of a speeding Dodge Viper, tattoos on display, while a bewildered James McAvoy tried to keep the car on the road.
It was 2008. Wanted was the movie everyone was talking about. It had curving bullets, a secret society of weavers (seriously, weavers), and a pairing that nobody saw coming. On paper, putting the guy from Atonement next to the world’s biggest action star felt like a weird experiment. But it worked.
Except, behind the scenes, things weren’t exactly the glamorous Hollywood dream you’d imagine.
The Kiss That Was "Awkward and Sweaty"
You’ve probably seen the clip. To make Wesley’s (McAvoy) cheating girlfriend jealous, Jolie’s character, Fox, grabs him and plants a massive, cinematic kiss on him. It’s supposed to be this high-octane, sexy moment.
James McAvoy remembers it differently.
He has been refreshingly blunt about this over the years. According to him, the kiss happened on their very first day of filming. Think about that. You walk onto a set, meet one of the most famous women on the planet, say "Hi, nice to meet you," and then a director shouts "Action" and you have to make out.
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McAvoy described the experience as "awkward, sweaty, and not very nice."
It wasn't that he didn't like her. He’s actually gone on record saying he had massive respect for her and found her to be nothing like the tabloid version of herself. But shooting an intimate scene with fifty crew members watching while you're still trying to remember your co-star's middle name? Yeah, that’s not exactly romantic. He even joked that he was mostly worried about whether he’d eaten a garlicky lunch.
James McAvoy Was Basically a Human Punching Bag
While Angelina Jolie was already a pro at the whole "action hero" thing—having done Lara Croft and Mr. & Mrs. Smith—James McAvoy was essentially thrown into the deep end. He wasn't the buff "Professor X" or "Beast" we know now. He was a skinny Scottish guy known for period dramas.
To get ready for the role of Wesley Gibson, he had to hit the gym hard, something he’s admitted he didn't really enjoy. But the gym was the easy part. The actual filming of Wanted was a physical nightmare for him.
Here is a quick look at the "Wanted" injury list for McAvoy:
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- A twisted ankle (classic).
- An injured knee.
- Countless bruises from the "Repairman" fight scenes.
- A random ear infection.
He estimated he did about 60% of his own stunts. That’s a lot for a guy who, just a year prior, was mostly known for wearing a green typewriter-themed dress shirt in Atonement. Meanwhile, Jolie was being rigged to harnesses on the hoods of cars moving at 30 mph. She was in her element; he was just trying to survive.
The Weird Dynamic Between Fox and Wesley
A lot of people forget that Wanted isn't a romance. It’s a mentor-protege story that is incredibly violent and kinda cynical. Fox (Jolie) spends most of the movie beating the absolute crap out of Wesley to "unlock" his potential.
There was a real sense of "big sister/little brother" energy off-camera, even though the marketing tried to sell it as a sexy thriller. Jolie actually had a hand in how her character was written. She reportedly asked for Fox to be more stoic and even had a say in the character's definitive (and very spoiler-heavy) ending. She didn't want the "typical" female lead role. She wanted to be the one holding the gun and the steering wheel.
Why We Never Got a Sequel (And Why We Won't)
For over fifteen years, fans have been asking the same question: Where is Wanted 2?
The first movie made $342 million worldwide. In Hollywood math, that usually equals an immediate sequel. Universal Pictures certainly wanted one. There were scripts. There were meetings. At one point, there were even rumors about how they could bring Jolie’s character back (which, if you’ve seen the end, is... difficult).
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But it never happened. Why?
- Script Issues: McAvoy recently revealed that he saw several scripts over the years, but none of them were "strong enough." He didn't want to tarnish the legacy of the first film with a mediocre follow-up.
- The "Age" Factor: In a 2024 interview, McAvoy got real about his age. He’s in his mid-40s now. He basically said he feels "too old" to play the jittery, youthful Wesley Gibson.
- The Comic Divergence: The movie strayed so far from Mark Millar’s original comic book (which involves actual supervillains and much darker themes) that a sequel didn't have a clear roadmap.
What You Can Learn From Their Collaboration
Looking back at the James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie era of 2008, it’s a masterclass in "unlikely chemistry." It proved that you don't need two "action stars" to make a hit; you need one person the audience can relate to (McAvoy) and one person they can aspire to be (Jolie).
If you're a fan of these two, don't hold your breath for a reunion in a textile mill anytime soon. Instead, focus on these takeaways:
- Watch the "making of" features: If you can find the old DVD extras, seeing Jolie teach McAvoy how to handle the physical demands of an action set is fascinating.
- Check out their solo paths: McAvoy used Wanted as a springboard to become a massive action/thriller star (Split, X-Men), while Jolie moved more into directing and humanitarian work.
- Appreciate the practical effects: In an era of "green screen" boredom, the car stunts in Wanted—many of which Jolie did herself—still look better than most CGI-heavy films today.
The "Fraternity" might be closed for business, but the impact of that specific 2008 pairing still lingers in every "curved bullet" meme you see on the internet.
Next Steps for You: If you want to revisit this era, the best thing to do is watch the original 2008 film on streaming (it’s frequently on Netflix or Amazon Prime) and pay close attention to the train sequence. It’s widely considered the peak of their on-screen collaboration. You might also want to look up Mark Millar's original graphic novel to see just how different the source material was compared to the "Hollywood" version Jolie and McAvoy brought to life.