James McAvoy admits directorial debut was 'incredibly stressful' to make

James McAvoy has admitted it was "incredibly stressful" making his feature directorial debut California Schemin'.

The X-Men actor both starred in and directed his new movie, California Schemin', and described the four-year process of making the movie as "incredibly stressful" and likely the result of a "midlife crisis".

"It was incredibly stressful," James, 46, told Empire Magazine. "The most stressful experience of my life, and I did it at my midlife-crisis time of life as well. Am I directing a film because I'm having a midlife crisis? Maybe. But I love doing it."

The film, based on the true story of a pair of Scottish rappers who pretend they hail from Los Angeles in a bid to break into the music industry, saw the BAFTA winner pull double duty as both an actor and the movie's director, which he said was "horrible".

"Horrible," James told the outlet of the experience. "Christ, it was f**king disgusting."

He explained he discovered how many more hours went into behind-the-scenes and consulting work than he had previously imagined.

"What I've found in becoming a director, even though I'm not directing anything right now, is that my unpaid workload has doubled," James said.

"Now I'm reading scripts as an actor and reading scripts as a director; I'm developing things for other people. It's great. It's very creative. But I'm also like, 'When's the bit where I get to sit in my pants at 3 pm and watch a film again?'"

California Schemin' stars Samuel Bottomley and Séamus McLean Ross as rap duo Silibil N' Brains and McAvoy as their record label boss Anthony Reid. The film will be released in U.K. cinemas on 10 April.