I Was Not Prepared For James McAvoy's Unhinged New Harry Potter Performance

One of the things I'm loving about the new full cast audio editions of the Harry Potter books is getting to hear new performances of the beloved characters. Audible's monthly release of the books (Goblet of Fire recently became available) has been a real treat, especially as we await new updates on HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV show.

I made my way through the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire full-cast audio edition faster than I intended to, due largely to finding myself completely caught up in the story, just like I did the first time I read it, in fact. I also found myself blown away by one particular voice performance –I'm talking about James McAvoy, who voices the role of Mad-Eye Moody.

Big Goblet of Fire spoilers ahead! I’m assuming you’ve read the books if you’re reading this article, so I’ll be getting into plot specifics from Book 4 here.

Anyone who's read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire knows that this is the book that introduces Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, a former Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix who shows up at Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. As is often the case with DADA profs, he doesn't last beyond the year.

In this case, it's due to the reveal that the Mad-Eye Moody we were seeing throughout the story was actually Barty Crouch Jr. in disguise. The real Mad-Eye was locked away in a trunk all year, while Crouch manipulated the Tri-Wizard Tournament to get Harry entered and got himself set up to do Voldemort's bidding once the Dark Lord made his grand return.

James McAvoy – whose best movies include Split, Atonement, and some X-Men films – voices (Crouch-disguised-as-)Moody throughout the audiobook, and I was appreciating his performance as the intimidating, scarred, magic-eyed wizard throughout. Really, I could go on and on about how many great voice performances there are in these new audiobook editions, but what really caught my ear with McAvoy's was the way he delivered his villainous monologue near the end of Book 4.

If you recall, after Harry returns to Hogwarts, having just witnessed Voldemort's return, Moody takes him back to the castle under the guise of getting him patched up. In the brief time he has alone in his office with Harry, in anticipation of killing him, he reveals the truth about what he's been up to all year.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Jim Dale’s narration of the Harry Potter audiobooks. And when I say that, what I mean is that my love for his performances on all seven audiobooks – reading the text and doing all of the characters’ voices (including varying accents) –, is baked right in with my love of the series as a whole. There’s no separating the two.

So, I am in no way criticizing Dale's delivery of Moody’s monologue. And this is also not a slight on Brendan Gleeson's own intense delivery of it when he played Moody in the Goblet of Fire movie. But Merlin's Beard, does McAvoy knock it out of the park. I was not prepared to hear the unraveled sanity of Barty Crouch Jr. come through Moody's voice. And that's exactly what we hear, because at this point, the Polyjuice potion hasn't worn off, so McAvoy is playing Barty Crouch Jr. no-longer-pretending-to-be Moody, but still looking/sounding-like Moody. (Once the effects of the potion wear off and Barty Crouch Jr is totally himself, Michael Ahomka-Lindsay takes over voicing the role.)

Before Dumbledore and others show up, Crouch tells Harry about his undying allegiance to Voldemort, his anger toward the Death Eaters who hid or betrayed the Dark Lord, how he killed his own father, and his involvement in the events of the recent school term, and there is no mistaking the fact that the man behind Moody's face is completely unhinged. He's hanging on by an anger-fueled thread (and considering he spent years in Azkaban and then more time in captivity before spending months disguised as another person, it's not hard to understand why).

McAvoy delivers the monologue with a kind of maniacal rage that really drives home the reveal, and it reminded me that Crouch really is the worst (or one of the worst, anyway). The contrast of this character pretending to be Moody, and finally revealing his true identity is so drastic and so perfect for the scene.

The voice cast for these new audio editions is (mostly) different from the cast of the upcoming TV show. It's too soon to know who will play the role of Moody in HBO's adaptation, since he doesn't show up until Harry's fourth year, but I do hope they consider McAvoy for the part, if he's available. He does such a great job voicing the role, and I'd love to see him perform the character on screen as well.

Great voice performances are just one of the things I’m loving about these releases. There are also realistic sound effects and other bits of audio magic that bring the story to life in a really fun way. You can purchase the full cast audio editions of the first four Harry Potter books at Audible. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix arrives in March.