X-Men star James McAvoy's panto pics...

But before Hollywood beckoned, he too appeared in panto in Kirkcaldy. Oh yes he did!

He took to the stage of the Adam Smith Theatre barely a few hundred yards from where fellow Scots acting stars, Ewan McGregor and Shirley Henderson, studied at Fife College.

They’d long since graduated when he arrived for curtain up in December 1999.

McAvoy was cast as Bobby Buckfast – a very different role from previous stage appearances in Romeo and Juliet, and West Side Story – and he didn’t need his X-Men powers either to wow the audience.

According to the Fife Free Press review, he and his co-stars had “adults and children alike hooting with delight”.

And the audience “was quick to respond to their antics as they tried to trip up evil sorceress Sadista with their exploits”.

McAvoy and the cast took their final bows in early January as the curtain fell on another festive hit.

Interestingly, it was his one and only foray into the world of panto as he turned his attentions to Shakespeare and theatre before making his big breakthrough in Channel4’s ground-breaking drama ‘Shameless’.

Then it was on to the big screen where he won plaudits for his performances in The Last King Of Scotland and Atonement before going global with the X-Men franchise in 2010.

McAvoy is arguably the biggest name to have stepped into the spotlight during panto season at the Adam Smith - but he’s not the only one.

Over the years the theatre has welcomed some familiar faces.

Stalwarts such as Alastair McDonald ad Jimmy Logan have appeared along with up and coming names such as a fresh faced Joe Pasquale, the Chuckle Brothers – who then performed under the name of the Harman Brothers in 1983 – and assorted soap stars from High Road and River City.

>> The 2016 panto, Cinderella, launches on December 10. Ticket details from the box office on (01592) 583302