James McAvoy found an iconic connection with his X-Men costars – Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, while they were rehearsing for the movie.

The 46-year-old actor shared that the three of them had played Shakespeare’s Macbeth on stage, and it ended up becoming a building block for their bond.

The Atonement star shared, “I was getting hair extensions put in, and I went into the trailer, and I think Patrick was cooking and Sir Ian was sitting with his feet up in the recliner,” adding, “I had just finished doing Macbeth on the West End in London,” during New York Comic Con.

McAvoy continued to share that McKellen called him up asking about his recent Macbeth stint and asked to “do a bit” together, as Stewart had done it as well.

The Split actor recalled that he had finished Macbeth two weeks ago and he “couldn’t remember a single line” while Stewart and the Lord of the Rings star were “like banging back and forward [their] favourite bits from Macbeth.”

The moment inspired McAvoy deeply as he thought, “It’s just a different kind of actor, a different kind of machine.”

The Glass actor shared that he was lucky to have the previous actor who played his character, despite his lighthearted competition with his older counterpart.

Joking about the most meaningful moments with the fans at Comic Con, McAvoy quipped, “When they tell me that I was better than Patrick, that means so much. It really resonates with me.”