His Dark Materials star talks 'allergy' to daemons

"The daemons are CGI, and I’m still allergic to them."

By Jacob Sarkisian

5 Feb 2023

BBC

His Dark Materials star James McAvoy has opened up about his allergy to several different animals — and joked that his allergies even extend to daemons.

McAvoy plays Lord Asriel in His Dark Materials, which features creatures known as daemons. Daemons are physical manifestations of a person's soul that takes the form of an animal.

In a new interview with Radio Times, McAvoy revealed that his allergies mean he's very grateful that all the daemons were created entirely by CGI.

"The fact is, I’m allergic to so many animals, cats, dogs. Someone sent me something [about a part] today, asking, 'Is it just horses you’re allergic to?' They sent this great offer but involving dogs and it’s like, 'I can’t do anything with dogs!'" McAvoy said.

"The daemons are CGI, and I’m still allergic to them," McAvoy said.

Season three of His Dark Materials featured a big change to another type of fantasy animal found in Phillip Pullman's work. The Mulefa are intelligent creatures who, in the books, are described as having diamond-shaped skeletons, no spines and huge seed pods.

his dark materials,5,mulefa, mary malone simone kirby,bad wolf,screen grab

BBC

However, visual effects supervisor Russell Dodgson explained why the show toned down the design of the animals — particularly the diamond-shaped skeletons aspect.

"That one sentence, which sounds cool, could really derail the authenticity of the creature or character for the rest of the show," Dodgson said.

"So we decided that we weren’t going to try and come up with exactly that, because at the same time they were meant to be elegant. They were meant to be beautiful and seem super-intelligent."

His Dark Materials airs on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US.