Director Jon Baird On ‘Filth,’ James McAvoy, ‘Trainspotting,’ Irvine Welsh [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Director Jon Baird‘s last film Filth, comedy-drama starring James McAvoy as a corrupt policeman who is on the verge of receiving a promotion and will stop at nothing to get what he wants, almost never got made. “Yeah, I mean when we were shooting it we almost didn’t complete it, because we didn’t close the financing until five weeks into the shoot,” Baird told uInterview. “Which was scary, and you do not know if it will be the last day!”

Baird was initially unsure McAvoy was right for the role. “I’ve never seen James in it at all at the beginning because, my impression of him was too young or that he might not get the character,” Baird told uInterview. “After meeting him, he knew a lot more of this guy than I ever thought he would, so we met and going to think this is another meeting to let’s cast this guy and offer him the role.”

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh, who wrote the novel which Filth is based on, became an instant fan of the movie. “It was very nice, the first thing he said to me after seeing the film for the first time he said, ‘I think it is better than the book.’ That was a lovely thing to hear a novelist say he liked the film better than the book, so he is a big fan of it.”