Eye on the Oscars: The Actor – Michael Fassbender in ‘Shame’
By JUSTIN KROLL
Source: Variety

It’s been a busy 2011 for Michael Fassbender, who has appeared in four pics this year, including the Steve McQueen-directed “Shame.” The German-born actor worked for 20 consecutive months, with little time in-between projects to regroup.

Reuniting with McQueen — the two collaborated on “Hunger” — was important to Fassbender, whose 2011 roles include the current release “A Dangerous Method” and, earlier in the year, “X-Men: First Class” and “Jane Eyre.”

“When it came down to making a decision, it was really Steve who got me interested,” Fassbender says on taking on “Shame.” “We talked about it in 2008 and when I read the script last year, I really thought he and Abi (Morgan) put together a beautiful story in a very respectful manner.”

In the Fox Searchlight pic, Fassbender plays Brandon, a sex-addicted New York City businessman whose life begins to unravel after he reluctantly allows his sister, played by Carey Mulligan, to move into his sterile apartment.

Fassbender and McQueen are now back together for their next project, the drama “Twelve Years a Slave,” co-starring Brad Pitt and co-written by John Ridley. Fassbender says his relationship with McQueen is based on the helmer’s natural leadership ability and how he creates a comfortable working atmosphere.

“Steve has a very similar work ethic to Ridley (Scott, whom Fassbender worked with on ‘Prometheus’), where he is creating this environment where everybody is working hard and enjoying what they are doing,” he says.

While Fassbender’s perf has been generating strong reviews, the film’s graphic nudity and sexual content — earning the pic a NC-17 rating — has drawn headlines as well, scaring some auds away.

As for how difficult filming those scenes were, Fassbender admits it was uncomfortable at times but it felt true to Brandon’s persona — a man whose need for sexual stimulation with prostitutes and strangers overshadows any authentic personal relationships.

“A lot of these scenes were, no pun intended, meant to reveal things about this character,” Fassbender says. “So while it was uncomfortable, it’s important to the story. You just have to get over it.”

Source: Huffington Post UK
By Caroline Frost

Michael Fassbender joked that it was his director Steve McQueen’s fault he kept appearing nude on the big screen.

The Irish-American actor scooped the Best Actor prize for his role in Steve McQueen’s film Shame at last night’s Moet British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) in London, and was in jovial mood.

“Do I like to take my clothes off? Not really,” chuckled Fassbender, That’s Steve’s deal. You’ve got to ask him why he keeps asking me to take my clothes off – maybe there’s something in that.”

He added more seriously, “With the story, that was just the way it went.”

Fassbender revealed the BIFAs had a special place in his heart, as it was the first time he ever received an acting award – for his equally exposing role in Hunger, also directed by McQueen, and that the list of fellow nominees for Best Actor was “surreal”:

“I can remember being influenced by Gary Oldman and Brendan Gleeson. They were heroes of mine when I was 16, so it’s pretty humbling to see their names there.”

And he praised the independent film scene, as “feeding the entire industry. If there are interesting things happening in that sector of the business, everything else feeds from that, so it’s a very important place”.

HUFFPOST REPORTS FROM THE BIFAs:
Elizabeth McGovern at the British Independent Film Awards – ‘British films are better than American ones’
Olivia Colman Tells Tyrannosaur Doubters: ‘Go And Watch The F***ing Film’
Ralph Fiennes – ‘Vanessa Moves Me As An Actress And As A Woman’

Fassbender’s role in Shame sees him playing a man struggling with sexual addiction, something he called an opportunity to explore “the elephant in the room”:

“I had the opportunity to meet some people suffering with this condition, particularly one person, dealing with intimacy and the fear of intimacy as the real crux of the problem there. So I’m very grateful to that person in particular for being brave and open with me, and telling me stories, and with that information, I could re-read the script, and just hope I was awake and aware when I arrived on set, and could go in the direction Steve (McQueen) and the other actors wanted to go in.”

And he reserved his highest praise for his co-star Carey Mulligan:

“We were going to some pretty dangerous places where you need to trust one another, protect, provoke and surprise each other,” he remembered of their time on set. “Carey is an intelligent actor, also very sensitive, spontaneous and responsive, so she took me to a place where I asked, ‘how did I get here?’ and it was because I was trying to keep up with her.

“I never think about whether it’s going to be a success. I just know by about 30 pages in whether I’m interested or whether or not it’s struck me in the gut. I can’t articulate it, it just feels right.

“And you just hope it’s going to be important to other people. That’s what’s so great about this (Shame) – it feels important. Success is a dangerous word, fear to fall flat on your face is ok, because you can get back up again and keep trying things out. Some things stick to the wall, some things don’t, that’s in the hands of the gods.

“There’s no other secret – work hard, do the homework, have fun.”

Source: RTE

Michael Fassbender was named Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday night for his performance in Shame.

The film, in which Fassbender plays a sex addict, is released in Irish cinemas on Friday January 13.

Fassbender, who described his win as “surreal and humbling”, told the BBC that Shame was his “toughest role” to date.

“You’re playing a character that doesn’t really like himself very much, so that can be kind of dark company,” he said.

You can watch the trailer for Shame by clicking the link on your left.

Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur won three awards on the night: Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Director and Best Actress (Olivia Colman).

Best Director went to Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk about Kevin.

Vanessa Redgrave was Best Supporting Actress for Coriolanus with Michael Smiley winning Best Supporting Actor for Kill List.

The award for Most Promising Newcomer was won by Weekend star Tom Cullen, and the film was also honoured with the Best Achievement in Production award.

The Best Documentary award went to Senna and A Separation was named Best Foreign Independent Film.

Richard Ayoade won Best Screenplay for Submarine; his The IT Crowd co-star Chris O’Dowd hosted the ceremony.

Ralph Fiennes was honoured with the Richard Harris Award with the Variety Award going to Kenneth Branagh.

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Posted by Ken at 8:39 AM

This is the first edition, first time I’m doing an actor profile on here. I know I pay a lot of attention to directors but I do like to give actors their due when they deserve it. In this particular case, the actor I’m talking about is Michael Fassbender. Art house audiences are most likely already familiar with Michael Fassbender. He’s starred in such films as Hunger and Fish Tank, both of which are excellent films (more on that later). His most high profile role to date has been Inglourious Basterds and while Christoph Waltz pretty much stole his thunder in that film, Fassbender was just as good.

This year he has a few roles that are even more high profile. First, he’ll be starring as the younger version of Magneto in X-Men: First Class. Later this year, he’ll star as Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method.” He also already wrapped up filming “Shame,” the second film by helmer Steven R. McQueen (more on his first film later). Michael Fassbender is practically an A-list actor already, you just don’t realize it or know it yet. He’s definitely an actor with perhaps the greatest amount of potential in Hollywood today and what I appreciate about him is his willingness to stay with the lower profile roles while not being afraid to try the more mainstream affair.

What makes Michael Fassbender so watchable? Is it the fact that he’s so cool, calm, suave, and charming in “Inglourious Basterds” that he would make even George Clooney blush? Or is it his fearless, menacing, heartbreaking performance in “Hunger” that was the film that really caught my eye in regards to him. The truth is that he can do it all, pretty much. He can play the suave sophisticate if he wants to, he can play the more emotionally complex roles as well, he can go dark, he can be funny, he can be sexy, and he can be downright creepy… sometimes in the same film (watch Fish Tank). The reason why I felt the need to take the time and write about him is because he’s one of the few actors out there today that I’m looking forward to seeing his new films regardless of who’s making it. Ordinarily, I would not care about X-Men First Class, I find James McAvoy to be a very bland actor who usually plays those do-gooder type roles. Whereas, Michael Fassbender is the guy who can play a do-gooder but will always leave you to wonder if he really is a do-gooder. That’s the type of actor I like to watch.

So be on the lookout for Michael Fassbender. He’s already a great actor. He will win an Oscar within the next ten years (if they know what’s good for them) and he will be on everyone’s favorite list by the end of the year. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and watch Hunger and Fish Tank which are two brilliant British films featuring him. You won’t be disappointed. Slightly disturbed, but not disappointed.

http://kenoncinema.blogspot.com/2011/03/actor-profile-michael-fassbender.html