Line #25 Creator/MichaelFassbender


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12.jpeg]]
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3	->''"What I find really interesting is to try and mix it up, to push myself and try different things. I don't want to stay in my comfort zone. I want to take risks and keep myself scared."''
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5	Michael Fassbender (born April 2, 1977 in Heidelberg, UsefulNotes/WestGermany) is an Irish–German screen and stage actor and producer.
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7	His feature film debut was in the fantasy war epic ''Film/ThreeHundred'' (2007) as a Spartan warrior; his earlier roles included starring roles on television such as in the Creator/{{HBO}} miniseries ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' (2001) and the [[Creator/{{Sky}} Sky One]] fantasy drama ''Series/{{Hex}}'' (2004). He first came to prominence after starring in the 2008 film ''Film/{{Hunger}}'' about the 1981 [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Irish hunger strike]]. While the film had a fairly limited release, Fassbender's intense performance got a lot of praise.
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9	He had a handful of other notable roles over the next two years, but things really took off in 2011. That year he played more coveted (and well-received) roles than many actors have in their entire career including [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] in the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' film series staring with ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', UsefulNotes/CarlJung in ''Film/ADangerousMethod'', and Mr. Rochester in ''Film/{{Jane Eyre\|2011}}''. He is known for his broodingly intense persona and dark charisma. While having a quick career turn is not uncommon for actors, few have been in so many high-profile roles so successfully. His career seems to be continuing strongly with roles in big films like Creator/RidleyScott's ''Film/{{Prometheus}}''. In 2013 he returned to work with Steve [=McQueen=], the director of ''Hunger'' and ''Shame,'' and played slaveowner Edwin Epps in ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'', a role he has garnered massive acclaim for, including nominations for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a SAG Award.
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11	He's been married to Creator/AliciaVikander since 2017. They have one child. He also may or may not [[MemeticMutation be a shark]].
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13	!!Selected Works:
14	* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'' (2001) as Burton 'Pat' Christenson
15	* ''Series/{{Hex}}'' (2004) as Azazeal
16	* ''Film/SherlockHolmesAndTheCaseOfTheSilkStocking'' (2004) as Charles Allen
17	* ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' (''After the Funeral'', 2006)
18	* ''[[Film/Angel2007 Angel]]'' (2007) as Esmé Howe-Nevinson
19	* ''Film/ThreeHundred'' (2007) as Stelios
20	* ''Film/{{Hunger}}'' (2008) as Bobby Sands
21	* ''Film/EdenLake'' (2008) as Steve
22	* ''Film/FishTank'' (2009) as Conor
23	* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' (2009) as Lt. Archie Hicox
24	* ''Film/{{Centurion}}'' (2010) as Quintus Dias
25	* ''Film/{{Jonah Hex\|2010}}'' (2010) as Burke
26	* ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' films as [[ComicBook/{{Magneto}} Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto]]
27	** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' (2011)
28	** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' (2014)
29	** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' (2016)
30	** ''Film/DarkPhoenix'' (2019)
31	* ''Film/{{Shame}}'' (2011) as Brandon Sullivan
32	* ''Film/{{Jane Eyre\|2011}}'' (2011) as Edward Rochester
33	* ''Film/ADangerousMethod'' (2011) as UsefulNotes/CarlJung
34	* ''Film/{{Haywire}}'' (2012) as Paul
35	* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise as David:
36	** ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' (2012)
37	** ''Film/AlienCovenant'' (2017): also portrayed Walter
38	* ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'' (2013) as Edwin Epps
39	* ''Film/TheCounselor'' (2013) as Counselor
40	* ''Film/{{Frank}}'' (2014) as Frank
41	* ''Film/SlowWest'' (2015) as Silas Selleck
42	* ''Film/{{Macbeth\|2015}}'' (2015) as Macbeth
43	* ''Film/SteveJobs'' (2015) as Creator/SteveJobs
44	* ''[[Film/AssassinsCreed2016 Assassin's Creed]]'' (2016) as [[ActingForTwo Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha]]
45	* ''Film/{{The Snowman\|2017}}'' (2017) as Literature/HarryHole
46	* ''Film/{{Next Goal Wins\|2023}}'' (2023) as Thomas Rongen
47	* ''The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar'' (2023) as Creator/RoaldDahl
48	* ''Film/{{The Killer\|2023}}'' (2023) as the Killer
49	* ''[[Film/KungFury Kung Fury 2]]'' (TBA) as Colt Magnum
50
51	!!This actor's work provides examples of:
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53	* AntiHero: He excels at playing immensely troubled but fundamentally good characters with serious demons.
54	* TheCastShowoff: He's shown off his bilingualism, speaking German for ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' and ''Film/XMenFirstClass''.
55	* DyeingForYourArt:
56	** For his role in ''Film/{{Hunger}}'', he dropped about thirty pounds and obsessively rehearsed the lengthy scenes. In general, Fassbender is known for his desire to fully embody his characters.
57	** ''Film/{{Centurion}}'' saw him get into [[http://66.media.tumblr.com/2c90756526095384e622041abf672f66/tumblr_mj9rkgIsx81qbtmrio1_1280.jpg incredible shape]] - since his ShirtlessScene lasts about twenty minutes.
58	** For ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'', he bleached his hair blonde.
59	** Also greyed his hair as part of his portrayal of Steve Jobs in his last years in ''Film/SteveJobs''.
60	* FakeNationality: Tends to play a lot of American or British characters. He used his real accent for Magneto in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' but switched to a British accent for subsequent films.
61	** In ''Film/AssassinsCreed2016'', he plays both an American death-row inmate and his Spanish ancestor.
62	* FakeScot: As the man himself in ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. He's one of two Irish actors in the 2015 version to do this, alongside Jack Reynor.
63	* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: Inverted. He usually plays serious gritty roles. A glance at interviews shows he's quite the [[GenkiGirl Genki Guy]] and jokester.
64	* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Creator/JamesMcAvoy. While the two actually worked together in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', they shared no screentime together, and it wasn't until ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' that they really became friends. They are known to text, share videos and share a pint once in a while. Watch any interview/behind the scenes footage of them, and it’s very obvious they have a deep mutual respect and care for each other very much.
65	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Pat Christenson, his character in ''Series/BandOfBrothers'', doesn't know how to speak German while Fassbender is half-German and fluent in the language.
66	* MaleFrontalNudity: Famously in ''Film/{{Shame}}''.
67	* ManOfAThousandFaces: As said in the article quote, he enforces it deliberately by looking for new challenges in the roles he plays. He arguably has success; even if you are used to his face, the variety of characters Fassbender plays sometimes makes him difficult to recognize.
68	* OohMeAccentsSlipping:
69	** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', his character is a German Jew (which is very important to the plot), but his accent is pretty uniformly still Irish. Interestingly, his performance was considered [[AbilityOverAppearance so good]], that this aspect is often noted, but rarely criticized. Justified in that Creator/IanMcKellen (who played the older version of his character in previous movies) didn't exactly attempt a German accent either. This is only in the first film, as he adopts a British accent for ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', which ties ''First Class'' in with the continuity of the other films, so he's matching Ian [=McKellen=]'s accent. Averted during his German speaking part in the film; Fassbender speaks German fluently, due to being half-German, and the contrast to Creator/KevinBacon's poorly accented German is very noticeable to German speakers.
70	** His accent's also uneven in ''Film/SteveJobs'', particularly at the beginning, although this is nowhere near as noticeable as in the above.
71	* ProductionPosse: With Steve [=McQueen=]. Fassbender starred in all three films [=McQueen=] has directed (''Hunger'', ''Shame'', and ''12 Years a Slave''). They are friends in real life. He's also worked three times with Creator/RidleyScott.
72	* PromotedFanboy:
73	** When he was in secondary school, he put together a school play of Creator/QuentinTarantino's ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', a fact that came up when Fassbender was reading for a role in Tarantino's ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''.
74	** He's a self-proclaimed fan of the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games. Its movie adaptation is his first production as a movie co-producer and he [[ActingForTwo played the main roles]] of both modern-day and the historical setting in it.
75	** He's had a lifelong passion for motor racing, having actually wanted to be a racecar driver before an actor. He eventually got a chance to drive under Ferrari's "Corsa Pilota" training course before eventually moving to Porsche and getting involved in a full-season campaign in the European Le Mans Series with the eventual goal of getting to the [[UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans 24 Hours of Le Mans]]. Website/TheOtherWiki actually now lists him as an "actor and racing driver.''
76	* RomanceOnTheSet:
77	** Dated Creator/ZoeKravitz (Angel) while they were filming ''X-Men: First Class''.
78	** Also dated his ''Shame'' costar Creator/NicoleBeharie.
79	** Started a relationship with Creator/AliciaVikander after they co-starred in ''The Light Between Oceans''. They later married.
80	* StarMakingRole: ''Film/ThreeHundred'' and ''Film/{{Hunger}}'' earned him a lot of attention, but it was ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' that really launched him into stardom.
81	* TallDarkAndHandsome: He pretty much epitomizes this trope, both in appearance and personality.
82	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
83	** He was the runner-up for ''Film/TotalRecall2012'' behind fellow Irishman Creator/ColinFarrell.
84	** He was set to play Thomas Wolfe in ''Genius'' but had to drop out, and Creator/JudeLaw replaced him.
85	** He had a cameo appearance in Creator/WoodyAllen's ''Film/CassandrasDream'', but the scene was cut.
86	** He also lobbied hard for Creator/RosarioDawson's role in ''Film/{{Trance}}''. He tried to convince Creator/DannyBoyle to make her character male and make the film revolve around a gay romance, sex scenes and all. This was after Creator/JamesMcAvoy was cast in the lead, which means that Fassbender ''really'' wanted to make a film where [[Film/XMenFilmSeries Charles and Erik]] have a romantic relationship.
87	** His first-ever audition was for the role of Rafe in ''Film/PearlHarbor'', but he was passed over for Creator/BenAffleck.
88	* YoungerThanTheyLook: He appears a few years older than his actual age, which extends to a lot of his characters.

Context Creator / MichaelFassbender