I considered becoming a priest very seriously. I wanted to travel the world. By the time I turned 16, I realized I was only in it for selfish reasons. And, more importantly, I didn’t want to sacrifice the ladies!

McAvoy frames an adolescent flirtation with the priesthood as a clash between idealized vocation and candid self-knowledge. The line about wanting to “travel the world” suggests that what looked like spiritual calling was, on reflection, a desire for adventure and status—motives he judges as “selfish.” The punchline about not wanting to “sacrifice the ladies” undercuts any pious pose and emphasizes the ordinary pull of sexuality and romance in teenage life. As a celebrity anecdote, the quote functions as self-deprecating humor while also expressing a broader theme: maturity involves recognizing one’s real motivations and choosing a path aligned with them rather than with an inherited or socially admired role.