Michael Fassbender - biography and personal life

Hunger

Hunger

• Great Britain, Ireland, 2008.
• Historical film, drama.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.6.

The plot of the film is based on real events. Prisoners from the Irish Republican Army are fighting for recognition of their political status. In response, the prison guards only mock the prisoners, severely beat and maim them. And as a result, one of the prisoners, former Irish militant Bobby Sands, begins a hunger strike to protest xenophobia and police brutality.

To lose weight for the role of Bobby Sands, Michael Fassbender had to go on an extreme diet. A similar acting feat was accomplished, for example, by Christian Bale in “The Machinist” and Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club.”

The film's most famous scene is shot without any editing or camera movement and lasts exactly 17 minutes and 10 seconds. In it, Catholic priest Father Moran, played by Liam Cunningham, tries to talk Bobby Sands out of his hunger strike.

To properly prepare for filming this episode, Cunningham temporarily moved into Fassbender's apartment. There they rehearsed 12–15 times a day. And for good reason - during filming, the actors only needed four takes to successfully cope with the difficult scene.

This film marked the beginning of the collaboration between Fassbender and the talented director Steve McQueen. To date, Michael has starred in two more of his works: “Shame” and “12 Years a Slave.”

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Michael Fassbender, wife

The star of Quentin Tarantino's tragicomedy "Inglourious Basterds" - 39-year-old actor Michael Fassbender made people talk about himself at a fairly advanced age, receiving the "Volpi Cup" at the 2011 Venice Film Festival for Best Actor in the film "Shame". Then I remembered the previous awards this actor received for his participation in the films “Hunger”, “Aquarium” and “A Dangerous Method”. Having become world famous, Fassbender immediately attracted the attention of an army of fans, which continues to grow, thanks to his new images and victories in films. The question of who Michael Fassbender’s wife is is one of the first and most important among the actor’s fans.

Despite his age and obvious attractiveness, in which brutality peacefully coexists with a penchant for daydreaming, Michael is not married and has never married, and he also has no children. Such circumstances always give rise to assumptions about the unconventional orientation of the object of worship, as is now the custom in the West. But in this case, such assumptions seem unfounded: the actor has a girlfriend and she is not his first. It is quite possible that now a completely different, directly opposite effect is taking place, tactfully called Don Juanism.

Having become, like any movie star, the subject of close attention from the media, paparazzi and fans, the handsome actor of German-Irish origin began more than one short-term romance, the distinctive feature of which is its obvious dependence on the work schedule. During the filming of the science fiction action movie “X-Men. First Class,” Michael began a love relationship with actress Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of the legendary musician. Zoe, who is 12 years younger than Fassbender, was destined to be the actor’s wife, but their ideally smooth, beautifully romantic meetings and dates ended almost immediately after the end of their collaboration on the set in 2012.

Almost immediately after breaking up with Zoe, literally a few months later, Fassbender was seen in the company of another girl, this time a colleague from the film “Shame” - African-American Nicole Beharie. In the company of this dark-skinned beauty, Michael was photographed more than once by annoying paparazzi on the streets of Manhattan, when the couple walked holding hands and hugging in full view of everyone. This union also broke up after the lovers worked together, lasting about a year.

In 2013, Fassbender was filming in Britain, in the next X-Men film, and it was there that he found a new girlfriend - English heptathlon athlete Louise Hazel, to whom it was convenient to travel from Montreal to London. After completing work on the film, this love affair stopped almost immediately. In 2014, with Michael Fassbender, they began to often see the beautiful Romanian model Madalina Ghenea. One of the most desirable women in the world according to the rating of AskMen.com, in 2011 she dated Gerard Butler and then, in January 2014, fate brought them together with Michael.

Probably, the schedules of this couple did not coincide at all in time and geographical latitude, because in March of the same year the media trumpeted the news about Fassbender’s affair with his colleague in the drama “12 Years a Slave,” Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o. Judging by the nature of the actor’s previous hobbies, this option also could not last too long: having received an Oscar for her supporting role in their common project, Lupita became no less a sought-after actress than he, and they had so little chance of seeing each other often that the separation turned out to be simply inevitable.

Now Mike’s latest lover is his partner in the 2020 film “The Light Between Oceans,” 26-year-old Swede Alicia Vikander. They were noticed together at Formula 1, the Monaco Grand Prix, and all signs of their couple’s behavior indicated the presence of a close relationship between them. Time will tell how serious this relationship is and how long it will last. The chemistry between them in the drama was palpable and compelling. Perhaps their feelings for each other will become the basis of a long affection that will develop into marriage. After all, according to Fassbender, not a single love affair of his lasted more than two years. Delicate and with a subtle charm, Alicia Vikander would be great as Michael Fassbender's wife in this development.

Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds

• Germany, USA, 2009.
• Adventure film, drama, war film, alternative history.
• Duration: 153 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.3.

The film is set during World War II in Nazi-occupied France. Lieutenant Aldo Rain (Brad Pitt), nicknamed Apache, assembles a partisan detachment consisting of American soldiers of Jewish origin.

They kill Nazis so brutally that the Reich gives them the nickname Bastards. At the same time, a young Jewish woman, Shoshanna Dreyfus, is looking for a way to kill Hitler and take revenge on the fascist colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), who killed her entire family.

Michael Fassbender plays British intelligence officer Archie Hickox, who disguises himself as a German officer. Initially, director Quentin Tarantino wanted to give this role to British comedian Simon Pegg, but he opted for another project.

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Shame

Shame

• Great Britain, 2011.
• Drama.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

The main character of the film is a New Yorker (Michael Fassbender) who cannot control his sex addiction. But the sudden arrival of his sister (Carey Mulligan) forces him to rethink many things in his own life.

The second collaboration between Fassbender and director Steve McQueen. By the way, the latter’s love for long static scenes was also evident in this film. For example, the episode in which the characters of Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan argue while sitting on the sofa while watching TV lasts 6 minutes 15 seconds.

For the role of Brandon, the actor received an award at the Venice International Film Festival.

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"HUNGER" (2008)

The same film that gave birth to the creative union of Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen. Having those two names in the credits is a guaranteed emotional rollercoaster. And “Hunger” is no exception.

Here, Fassbender cleverly tells us the story of Bobby Sands, an Irish Republican Army prisoner who decides to go on a hunger strike after being denied political prisoner status. "Hunger" contains one of the most impressive and intense scenes of the actor's career - a 17-minute, shot in one shot, conversation between Sands and a priest persuading him to end his hunger strike. The Hunger is Mike Fassbender at his acting peak.

The original material was published in the British Esquire.

X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class

• USA, UK, 2011.
• Superhero action movie.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.7.

The plot of the film tells how young superpowers Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) met, became friends, built an institute for mutant children and eventually became enemies.

For the role of Magneto, Michael Fassbender relied not only on the character created by Ian McKellen in the early X-Men films, but also on the classic comic book version.

Fassbender subsequently appeared in all films in the franchise. And in the 2014 film “X-Men: Days of Future Past” he played together with McKellen. The film takes place in different time layers: Michael Fassbender plays Magneto in the past, and Ian McKellen plays in the present.

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The Wild Bunch is back

Mel Gibson is assembling the cast for his new directorial project, a remake of the classic western The Wild Bunch. He's trying to get stars like Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx and Peter Dinklage on board. The original 1969 film is considered a key piece of the Western genre and was designated a US Cultural Heritage Site in 1999.

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2019-05-19

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

• UK, USA, 2011.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.4.

A young girl, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska), receives the position of governess in the house of Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender). At first, the owner of the house seems unfriendly, cold and harsh.

But over time, Jane and her mysterious employer become closer, get to know each other better and finally fall in love. However, Mr. Rochester has a terrible secret that could end their happiness.

The next step in Fassbender's career was his role in the film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's classic novel. On the one hand, his image of Edward Rochester was far from what was depicted in the book. In the novel, the head of the house was described as an ugly but expressive man with a dark face, stern features and a heavy forehead.

But at the same time, Michael invested so much skill and personal charm in his role that critics agreed: this embodiment of Brontë’s character is one of the most successful film adaptations of the book in the history of the film.

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Dangerous method

A Dangerous Method

• Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Switzerland, 2011.
• Biographical drama.
• Duration: 99 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.4.

The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century. Young Sabina Spielrein is admitted to a psychiatric clinic in Zurich with a diagnosis of hysteria. Her attending physician is Carl Gustav Jung, an adept of the innovative psychoanalytic method.

Thanks to his system, the unusual patient quickly recovers. And Sabina’s medical history becomes a reason for Jung to start a correspondence with the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

The exchange of letters later develops into close friendship and then into conflict. In parallel, the story of the love affair between Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein unfolds, who turns from a patient into a lover and colleague.

Initially, Christian Bale was supposed to play the role of Carl Jung, but in the end he was replaced by Michael Fassbender, whom no one expected to see in such a role.

Interestingly, the age difference between Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender is exactly 19 years - the same as between Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

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Filmography

Prometheus

Prometheus

• USA, 2012.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 124 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

Archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway find rock paintings in Scotland. They indicate that huge humanoid aliens visited ancient earthly civilizations.

Later it turns out that very similar images are scattered across the globe. And the research vessel "Prometheus" sets off on a space expedition to find the ancestors of humanity.

The news that director Ridley Scott, the creator of the first Alien film, is filming a prequel to the legendary franchise delighted many fans. However, not everyone liked Prometheus, and many were completely disappointed. Fans criticized the film for distorting the original concept, and critics criticized it for the ridiculous behavior of the characters and plot inconsistencies.

The sequel, Alien: Covenant, turned out to be even more controversial. Instead of answering the questions left in Prometheus, the film added a ton of new ones. Not to mention the script's mistakes, the number of which "Testament" even outdid its predecessor.

Michael Fassbender played the role of the android David in the film, who understands and reproduces human emotions, but does not know how to experience them. And his performance received high marks from film critics.

And the scene from “Covenant” with the kiss of two androids played by Fassbender has become, in a sense, iconic. After all, the actor in it is actually kissing himself.

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Frank

Frank

• Great Britain, Ireland, 2014.
• Tragicomedy.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.0.

The main character John (Domhnall Gleeson) lives in a provincial English seaside town and dreams of becoming a musician. By chance, he ends up in an eccentric pop group, whose lead singer hides his face under a huge papier-mâché mask.

The role in the comedy directed by Leonard Abrahamson may not be the most impressive in Michael Fassbender's career, but it is certainly the most extraordinary. The film, based on the daring idea of ​​hiding the face of one of the most beautiful and popular actors under a stupid mask for an hour and a half, received high marks from world critics.

Initially, the role of Frank was written for Johnny Depp. But Michael Fassbender liked the script so much that the actor insisted that he be given the role.

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Kung Fury will be a feature film

Michael Fassbender will play one of the main roles in the full-length version of the cult Swedish short film Kung Fury. Also joining the project are David Hasselhoff and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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2018-02-16

Macbeth

Macbeth

• UK, France, USA, 2020.
• Drama.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.6.

The Scottish Lord Macbeth is predicted to one day become King of Scotland. Consumed by a thirst for power, Macbeth intends to kill the benevolent King Duncan and seize his throne.

The film adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play of the same name, directed by Justin Kurzel, earned high reviews from the film press. The film even received a 10-minute standing ovation after its screening at the Cannes Film Festival and collected an impressive number of awards.

Played by Michael Fassbender, Macbeth is a multi-dimensional character suffering from PTSD. He is both driven mad by paranoia and tormented by remorse.

Later, Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Justin Kurzel and cinematographer Adam Arkapaw resumed working together in the film Assassin's Creed (2016), a film adaptation of the Assassin's Creed game. Unlike Macbeth, the new project caused a predominantly negative response from both viewers and the film press.

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Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

• USA, 2020.
• Biographical drama.
• Duration: 122 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

The biographical film, scripted by Aaron Sorkin, tells the story of the development of Apple founder Steve Jobs and the problems he had to face along the way.

The plot focuses on three landmark new product presentations for the company. The culmination of Jobs' professional ascent should be the premiere of the iMac in 1998.

Director Danny Boyle came up with the idea to chronologically divide the film into three parts. The first episode was shot on 16mm film, the second on 35mm, and the third in digital format. This was done to highlight the importance of technology in Jobs' life.

The filmmakers did not strive to convey a 100% resemblance to the Apple founder. Instead, Michael Fassbender focused on his character's inner experiences. The result was impressive: the role of Steve Jobs brought the actor an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.

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