Michael Fassbender

by Jim Maloney

  In the meantime, he had also agreed to team up for the third time with Steve McQueen for his new movie, Twelve Years a Slave. It was an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 book about his time as a freeborn man of mixed race who, in 1841, was lured from New York to Washington – then a slave-owning district – with the promise of a well-paid job playing his fiddle in a circus. He was then drugged and awoke to find himself in a slave pen and subsequently lived under a number of owners, enduring great hardship. While toiling on a cotton plantation in Louisiana he confided his story to a white farmer from Canada named Samuel Bass, who had arrived to do some work there. Solomon realised that Samuel disagreed with the treatment of slaves and persuaded him to deliver a letter to his wife back home in New York, telling her what had happened and where he was. She then went to court to try to free him and finally succeeded in 1853.

  Steve had co-written the screenplay with John Ridley, a novelist (his first, Stray Dogs, had been turned into the 1997 movie U-Turn by Oliver Stone) and screenwriter of the 2002 comedy movie, Undercover Brother, and the film was to be produced by Brad Pitt.

  Michael was also in talks to be in Brendan Gleeson’s debut movie, At Swim Two-Birds, a film adaptation of the acclaimed 1939 novel by Irish writer Brian O’Nolan under the pseudonym Flann O’Brien. (Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy were also in discussions.) The complex plot of this witty novel concerns a lazy and frequently drunk student who lives with his uncle in Dublin, where he is writing – mostly from his bed – a novel about Dermot Trellis, the proprietor of a Dublin pub, who in turn is writing a novel. But Trellis is also lazy and asleep for much of the time and the characters from his novel rebel against him and ultimately the unnamed student. The characters include a polite devil, a posse of cowboys and the ancient Irish giant Finn McCool.

  Michael talked it over with Brendan over a meal at the Chop House restaurant in Dublin but they were interrupted when it was brought to their attention that it was a special night for one girl in the room, as it was her birthday. Both of them went over to her table to express their best wishes and happily posed for pictures with her.

  Because he knows what it is like trying to make it as an actor and is appreciative of those who helped and encouraged him, Michael has always been keen to do the same with new talent. It was no big surprise, therefore, that he agreed to become part of the Your Film Festival team, for a competition organised by YouTube and others (including Ridley Scott) to find the world’s best storytellers and connect them with a global audience. Ten finalists, chosen by the viewing public, would attend the Venice Film Festival in 2012 where the winner of grand prize would receive $500,000 (£315,000) to work on their next project.

  Submissions opened at the beginning of February 2012 and Michael committed himself to joining Ridley Scott as a juror, as well as being co-executive producer on the winning project. ‘When you are trying to make it within this industry – to get your films seen – you just really have to go out there and do it,’ he said. ‘Ridley Scott told me that the first time he directed he had a [instruction] book in one hand and a camera in the other. By doing things you learn.’

  The following month Michael embarked on talks about starring in another movie – a romantic adventure called The Mountain Between Us, based on the book by Charles Martin and to be directed by Gerardo Naranjo, who had helmed the Mexican thriller, Miss Bala.

  It tells the story of a stormy night when passengers are stranded at Salt Lake City airport after commercial flights are cancelled due to dangerous flying conditions. Doctor and keen climber Ben Payne, who has been attending a medical conference, manages to charter a private plane that will take him around the storm and drop him in Denver to catch a connecting flight home to Jacksonville, Florida. Touched by the anxieties of attractive and successful writer Ashley Knox, who is desperate to get home for her wedding, he offers her a seat in the plane. She gratefully accepts but the unthinkable happens when the elderly pilot has a heart attack over the desolate mountainous wasteland of the High Uintas Wilderness in Utah.

  Ben manages to crash-land and, although they survive, they are badly injured. He has broken ribs and possibly a collapsed lung and Ashley suffers a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg and probable internal injuries. Fortunately, Ben has his mountaineering equipment with him but first he needs to nurse Ashley back to health. With little food and freezing conditions, time is running out. Meanwhile, Ashley realises that the very private Ben has some serious emotional issues. Another realisation comes a little later – she may be falling in love with him.

  But it was Michael’s off-screen love life that became public news. In March he was pictured walking around the Soho district in New York with his arm around what the newspapers and several websites at first described as a ‘mystery woman’ until she was identified as Nicole Beharie. As usual, Michael would not comment publicly on their relationship but it was clear from their body language that they were more than ‘just good friends’.

  In the June issue of GQ, however, he was a little more forthcoming. ‘I’m seeing Nicole, we’re trying to see each other as often as possible,’ he confirmed. ‘That’s kind of difficult when she lives [in New York] and I live in England. Nothing happened while we were filming,’ he added. ‘We started talking more on the promotion thing. So, yeah, it just sort of unfolded like that.’

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  MAN OF THE YEAR?

  In March the progress of Prometheus – with its release due less than three months away on 8 June – was causing much excitement. Most of the story had been successfully kept under wraps but a new trailer at the annual comic-book and science convention WonderCon hinted at what was to come.

  Some of the main cast members, including Michael and Charlize Theron, along with director Ridley Scott and writer Damon Lindelof, attended the convention in Anaheim, California. There had been much speculation about whether this was actually a prequel of Alien or a totally different story and Damon went some way to putting the record straight. ‘Prometheus isn’t a prequel because it doesn’t end when Alien begins,’ he said. ‘This word “prequel” was on the table. It was the elephant in the room and had to be discussed. If there were a sequel to this movie [Prometheus], it would not be Alien. Normally, that’s the definition of a prequel – it precedes the other movies.

  ‘This movie,’ he added, ‘hopefully will contextualize the original Alien so that when you watch it again, maybe you know a little bit more, but you don’t fuck around with that movie. It has to stand on its own. It’s a classic. But if we’re fortunate enough to do a sequel to Prometheus, it will actually, I think, tangentalise even further away from the original Alien.’

  Following the press conference, Michael and Charlize took part in a Q&A session in which they answered questions about the film emailed to them from around the world. Their growing friendship meant they were comfortable teasing each other and it was an entertaining session.

  Michael told how he was fascinated by the philosophy behind the script – the beginnings of mankind, why we are all here, who created us and what happens to us when we die. He also reiterated that he based David’s physicality on the American Olympic diver, Greg Louganis. ‘I always remember him walking towards the edge of the diving board and I thought it was a very neutral and practical position, so that was the launching pad.’ He also described Ridley as being ‘quite a mischievous character with a childish energy which is infectious to be around’.

  Charlize got the last laugh when answering the final question: if one day a spaceship came to Earth with aliens, what would you really do? ‘I think it’s already happened. Half the people in this room are freakin’ aliens,’ she replied, then gestured towards Michael.

  A few days later and Michael was reunited with Charlize when he presented her with an Ally for Equality Award at the Human Rights Campaign gala in Los Angeles. She was being honoured for her work with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Once more Michael’s penis was t
he subject for humour! In her acceptance speech, Charlize turned towards Michael and, referring to his full frontal exploits in Shame, said, ‘I have to say that I was truly impressed that you chose to play it big. Most other actors would have gone small, trust me. No, I know because I’ve worked with them.’ She went on to lift her glass for a toast and added, ‘Your penis was a revelation. I’m available to work with it any time.’

  The film world’s love affair with Michael continued as he picked up no less than a Hero Award at the Jameson Empire Film Awards, held at London’s Grosvenor Hotel. Stars attending included Danny DeVito, Ron Howard, Tim Burton, Dolph Lundgren, Morgan Spurlock, Gary Oldman, Agyness Deyn, Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Wilde, Chris Hemsworth and David Morrissey. It was a good night for Gary Oldman, who was voted Best Actor, with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy acclaimed as Best British Film and Best Thriller.

  Towards the end of the evening came the special awards. Director Ron Howard won the Empire Inspiration award, then screenwriter Jane Goldman (of Kick-Ass fame) walked on to present Michael with his Hero award. ‘The winner this year has often been described as sex on legs but, as it happens, he also has intelligence, charm, passion and vulnerability on legs as well,’ she said. ‘Film has always been his passion – he appeared in a stage version of Reservoir Dogs fourteen years ago; since then he’s appeared in a Tarantino film. Whatever the genre, he grounds his characters in reality. He lost three stone in Hunger, he spanked Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method and in Shame he bared all. But in each case he transcends actorly stunts. But perhaps his greatest performance of the last twelve months is the patience he’s shown in the face of continual questions from journalists about his physical assets.’

  Michael looked a little bit embarrassed at being labelled ‘a hero’ but it put a big smile on his face. Accepting the award, he commented, ‘Well, this is kind of unusual because the first job I wanted to do was to be Superman, so a hero award is official now, thanks to Empire. It’s a magazine I actually always did read and follow as a film fan. And Jameson is my favourite whiskey, so this is pretty special!’

  But the jokes about Michael’s ‘assets’ weren’t over yet. For the finale Danny DeVito took to the stage to announce Tim Burton as Empire Icon. ‘Tim and I did three movies together; the last one was Big Fish,’ he said. ‘I owned a circus and I was a werewolf, and that was really fun. It was the first movie where you got to see my ass on screen. He said, “There’s gonna be a shot of the back of you.” You don’t realise there are going to be ninety people watching. That would’ve been embarrassing but I borrowed Fassbender’s schlong so that was OK.’

  Afterwards, when asked by a reporter who his own personal heroes were, Michael commented, ‘There are a lot of heroes out there. People who are sacrificing their lives to try to improve other people’s lives.’

  Despite all the mickey-taking about his public nudity, Michael brazened it out with yet more exposure! That month he caused a stir among his fans when he was the cover star for the glossy French magazine Obsession. Inside was a picture of him half-naked, removing his jeans while displaying a muscular torso. Another photograph showed a side view of him, walking completely naked.

  In the accompanying article, Michael modestly told the magazine that whenever he was sent a film script he thought of 10 other actors who would be better in it than him but were not fortunate enough to be sent such material. He also reiterated his compulsion to challenge himself as an actor and to surprise others. ‘My biggest mistake would be to let the industry put a label on me, so I do things unexpected – not suicidal, because I want all this to continue and develop – but it’s good to take risks.’

  Michael was also on the cover of the German magazine Arte in April and then found himself on Time magazine’s prestigious annual list of the 100 most influential people ‘who most affect our world’. His citation stated that it had been a ‘huge year’ for him ‘mixing mainstream fare (X Men: First Class) with independent cinema (Jane Eyre, A Dangerous Method and Shame)’.

  AFTERWORD

  And what of the future? The principles Michael has lived by so far – taking chances and appreciating his good fortune in getting where he is today – remain his guiding lights.

  ‘I don’t take anything for granted and I don’t presume that because today is going a certain way tomorrow will be the same,’ he says. ‘That’s something I learned from the times that I wasn’t in the position to be allowed to work. When you really feel like this is your job but you have to do something else because you’re unemployed in the one you really want to do, it makes you appreciate things and realise how precious it is.’

  Michael plans to develop his production company in order to create his own projects and also to help encourage new talent – be it actors, writers or directors. ‘I do think that my job has a shelf life, so maybe I’d like to stop doing this [acting] at some point and look at developing things or working as a director if I feel like I’m equipped enough and I have an interesting enough story to tell.’

  But he still has plenty of acting ambitions left. These include being in a Coen brothers film (The Big Lebowski is one of his favourites), doing some theatre and one wish in particular which raises an intriguing prospe: ‘I’d like to do a musical, at the right time with the right material. Actually, I do have an idea, so maybe I’ll develop it myself!’

  However, he doesn’t fret about what he hasn’t done. He only ever wanted to be a jobbing actor, so the rest has been a bonus. ‘This whole experience is crazy. When I decided this [acting] was what I wanted to do, this was the situation I dreamed about being in. It’s nuts.

  ‘It’s incredible to think of the people I have worked with. I often think that I am going to wake up and it’s all been a dream. I’m pinching myself quite a lot these days. Touch wood I am allowed to continue to keep learning from these great people. I don’t want to spend too much time thinking about the things I’ve done, or linger in the past. I can find that depressing. The main thing is thinking about what I can do next and making sure I do a good job.’

  Michael’s rise to stardom has been a triumph of belief, focus, hard work and the vital knack of being able to seize the moment and not letting go. Even in the most difficult times when he was barely surviving in London, he had to face the fact that it might never happen, but still he held onto his dream.

  ‘I trusted myself from the start and I just believed,’ he says. ‘I kept knocking at the door and at some point there was a crack and I got my toe in. Once I got my toe in, I got the rest of my foot in and the next thing, I was in the room.’

  Michael Fassbender arriving for the 2012 Golden Globes in Los Angeles.

  All images © Rex Features

  Life out of the Fish Tank, at the Cannes Festival in 2009, Fassbender with director Andrea Arnold.

  An Inglourious knees-up with Basterds co-stars Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Mélanie Laurent, with director Quentin Tarantino second-right.

  Carey Mulligan had first appeared with Fassbender in TV’s Trial & Retribution. They later reunited as Shame’s siblings.

  Shame producers Emile Sherman and Iain Canning with Fassbender and director Steve McQueen.

  Fassbender in September 2011 with the Best Actor award for Shame at the Venice Film Festival. ‘Buona sera, Venezia,’ said Fassbender in his acceptance speech. ‘Grazie mille.’

  Fassbender and Antonio Banderas both made appearances in Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire.

  A young looking Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart – aka their younger selves as played by Fassbender and James McAvoy the X-Men: First Class.

  Fassbender with JaneEyre co-star and director Mia Wasikowska and Cary Fukunaga.

  Prometheus co-stars Fassbender and Charlize Theron.

  Dangerous Method acting with Kiera Knightly and Viggo Mortensen.

  Old cronies – David Cronenberg directed A Dangerous Method.

  The doctor will see you now – A Dangerous Method.

  Michael Fassbender a
t The Daily Show studios in June 2012.

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