Every Michael Fassbender fan freaks out in his or her own special way. Critics draw Daniel Day-Lewis comparisons, bloggers term themselves “Fassinators,” and women pass out in movie theaters when the actor comes on-screen. The fainting occurred at the Toronto International Film Festival, at the premiere of Shame, a movie in which he stars as a mournful sex addict. The film was acquired by Fox Searchlight and will see its release timed for optimal Oscar consideration in December. The unconscious woman was revived and taken to the hospital…
David Cronenberg, who directed Fassbender as Carl Jung in this year’s A Dangerous Method, says that the actor so effectively lost himself in the part that at the Venice Film Festival, “nobody recognized him until we introduced him to the audience.” Both men were pleased by this. Shape-shifting, Cronenberg said, is a rare and fantastic skill for an actor to have: “The more a chameleon you can be, the better off you are.”
Video after the cut. (from GQ via FassinatingFassbender)
Fassbender, at 34, has an appealingly weathered face. Unlike most of his American peers, he looks (and acts) his age, perhaps because he’s been at this awhile. Shortly after high school, he moved from Ireland to London to study acting. Success was patchy, and he built a decade-long portfolio of near misses, disappointments, and bartending jobs before a stream of TV work allowed him to act full-time.
“Michael’s got a working-class attitude, in a good way,” says Cronenberg, and Fassbender’s approach does contain an element of manual labor. To prepare for a role, he’ll read a screenplay as many as 300 times in daily shifts of seven hours. What he first seeks in a project is literary merit: “I like a story that is challenging to me as a reader, and therefore as an audience, and therefore as a player.” Which often translates into parts he can disappear into.
Shame, the latest of these feats, begins with the actor naked and laid out on post-sex bedsheets like a strip of raw bacon. This is the actor’s second collaboration with Britain’s Steve McQueen, who directed him in 2008’s Hunger. For that film, Fassbender dropped forty pounds to play the IRA prisoner Bobby Sands, and Shame demands similar physical sacrifices. His every crease and follicle is on view as the compulsively oversexed Brandon, who lives in a cashmere-lined world of luxury and self-loathing. (Think Patrick Bateman in a minor key.) Fassbender cannily plays Brandon as if he were a cyborg trying to imitate human behavior: His reaction times are off, his stares inappropriate, his bearing frozen. When asked how he readied himself for the film’s many nude scenes, he is characteristically proletarian: “You feel awkward and mortified, but you get on with it. I’m not easily embarrassed.”
I definitely think that comparisons to Daniel-Day Lewis are merited. When DDL first exploded onto the scene back in the mid-80s with the one-two punch of “My Beautiful Launderette” and “A Room with a View”, there were a lot of moviegoers (myself included) who at first did not realize that his parts were played by the same actor – that was the extent to which he immersed himself into the roles. Having recently seen A Dangerous Method and Shame a few days apart, I feel much the same about Fassbenders performances.
Of course, even though DDL got some critics’ awards for his breakthrough roles, he had to wait a few years for his first Oscar nomination (and win)…expect the same to happen to MF.
“Comparisons with Daniel Day-Lewis are awfully premature in my opinion.”
From years 2 to 4 (major performances), Day Lewis did My Beautiful Launderette, Room with a View, An Unbearable Lightness of Being (among others). Same career period, Fassbender did Hunger, Fish Tank, IB, and Shame. Comparable, to be sure.
Hey Ryan thanks for the link to Fassinating Fassbender. I have been screaming from the mountain tops about this man for nearly four years now, and it’s wonderful seeing him get the press and have his fanbase explode at this time. And the funny thing is, we haven’t even seen all his potential yet.
@ Khan
3-4 solid lead performances?
Hunger
A Dangerous Method
Shame
And there you go. You might also consider Eden Lake, Fish Tank, Inglourious Basterds and X-Men: First Class.
The love for Fassbender on this site is getting quite amusing. Love him as an actor and hope he continues to get great roles and opportunities but I wouldn’t put him up there with DLL yet either. His performances are still too measured for my liking. (Also too skinny!)
Comparisons with Daniel Day-Lewis are awfully premature in my opinion. You are comparing him to one of the greatest actors ever. Fassbender was brilliant in Hunger and that’s the only movie I’ve seen of his, apart from Inglourious Basterds in which he didn’t have much to do. He needs to put in 3-4 solid lead performances to reach the level where we can compare him to DDL.
That’s about all he’s gonna get. Maybe a Golden Globe nod, but Oscar is going to stay away from Shame like a 10-foot pole.
That set of eyes and that slightly weathered face, if that is not movie star charisma, I don’t know what is…
Needless to say, I can’t wait to see Shame. Maybe a bit anxious too, it is, after all, a strange feeling to go into a movie with the explicit expectation that you are about to witness the best performance of the season…a letdown therefore is possibly imminent…
@rashad
Agree 100% – Tarantino sure can pick them. Wish Melanie Laurent would have a breakout over here, too.
No inclusion of the full-body black and white photo? That man’s physique kills me. Beautifully proportioned and toned without looking like he spends hours at the gym. UNF. And talent and charisma to match.
Kate, Not sure where the photo you’re talking about can be found. I’ve swapped out the shot on the main page.
Impossible to take a picture of this guy that doesn’t look great. Everyone should feel free to link to your favorites and we’ll have a scavenger hunt.
“breakout of the year” – no kidding. The engine of talent behind those freakin’ eyes is astounding – comparisons to Day Lewis are more than justifed. Hope he “fassinates” his way to the oscar.
Wow. That is some cover. Merciful heavens. Sorry. I’m only human.
Wow. That is some cover. Merciful heavens. Sorry. I’m only human.
Right? Jesus Christ already.
Boy, Tarantino sure knows how to pick ’em. I wish Melanie Laurent got as much buzz as him. Too good, and too beautiful to stay hidden