I really liked ’Starter For Ten’ because I grew up watching 1980s teen films like ’St. Elmo’s Fire’ and ’The Breakfast Club’ and I’ve always wanted to play the underdog lead hero in a 1980s-inspired film.

McAvoy frames his enthusiasm for the project as rooted in formative viewing: the 1980s American “teen film” cycle. By citing touchstones like *St. Elmo’s Fire* and *The Breakfast Club*, he signals an affection for ensemble-driven coming‑of‑age stories where social status, insecurity, and aspiration collide. His emphasis on wanting to play an “underdog lead hero” suggests an actor’s desire to inhabit a classic narrative arc—an outsider striving for recognition—while also acknowledging the film’s deliberate pastiche of an earlier cinematic style. The quote positions *Starter for 10* as both homage and personal wish‑fulfillment: a chance to step into a genre that shaped his imagination.