James McAvoy taking acting break

James McAvoy has said he will quit acting for a while despite winning last year's best actor Bafta for Atonement.

His past few films have seen him take the male lead opposite Hollywood A-listers including Keira Knightley, Reese Witherspoon and Angelina Jolie.

But the critically acclaimed actor has said he just needs to get away.

He added: "I'm going to not act for a little while and take some space and take some time - and make some 'me' time, you know, all that rubbish."

The 29-year-old was concerned the jobs were starting to rack up for years to come: "That was almost a possibility. "It was getting to the point where that was happening and I had to put an end to it."

McAvoy had been rumoured to take the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming Hobbit movie, a prequel to Lord of the Rings, but he said it was "just a rumour".

Action hero

He added: "It's not true. It's come off the internet and turned into a story for some reason."

Even if the role was offered, McAvoy said he'd have to wait and see: "there's not even been a script yet".

He can be seen flexing his muscles - literally - as an action hero alongside Angelina Jolie in new movie Wanted which is out on 20 June.

After that, James has filmed historical drama The Last Station which also features his wife Anne-Marie Duff.

But that will be it for some time. He said: "I don't know what I'm going to do for the next two to three years of my life."