Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001—present |
Michael Fassbender (born April 2, 1977) is a German-born Irish actor. He played Azazeal in the Sky One television series Hex. Other credits include Band of Brothers and the Zack Snyder epic film 300 in which he plays Spartan soldier Stēlios ("Then we shall fight in the shade"). He also played the role of Michael Collins opposite Mel Smith as Winston Churchill at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Mary Kenny's play Allegiance.[1] The play was directed by Brian Gilbert and produced by Daniel Jewel. In 2008, he played Bobby Sands in Hunger.
Personal life
Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to an Irish mother and German father. His parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland when he was two years old. He attended St. Brendan's, Killarney (The Sem) and the Drama Centre London. 1.85 m tall, with blue eyes and light brown hair, Fassbender plays guitar, piano, and accordion and speaks fluent German. He has his own production company called Peanut Productions. He is related on his mother's side to Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence.[2] He is currently dating American actress Leasi Andrews.[3]
Earlier projects
He first played the part of Burton 'Pat' Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award winning Band of Brothers. He played the character of Azazeal in both series of Hex on Sky One and he also starred as the main character in the music video for the song 'Blind Pilots' by the British band, The Cooper Temple Clause.
Fassbender played the part of Jonathan Harker in a 10-part radio serialization of Dracula produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the Book at Bedtime series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, The Quarrel, playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologize personally to his brother in New York.
During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender co-starred with Mel Smith in Allegiance, a play based on the meeting between Winston Churchill and Michael Collins while coincidentally his mother is great niece of Collins (whom he played). By many accounts he was riveting on stage.[4] The play was a co-production between the Riverside Studios and London production company Third Man Films. In addition, he has produced, directed and starred in the stage version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, along with his production company.
He appeared in Angel (UK title: The Real Life of Angel Deverell), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest and average painter Esmé. The drama – the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor – was premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris.
Fassbender appears briefly in Wedding Belles as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent. The film had its premiere on 29 March 2007 on Channel 4 television.[5] In the same year he had a cameo role in the film Cassandra's Dream, directed by Woody Allen and starring Ewan McGregor.
Recent projects
Fassbender underwent a crash diet to play Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands, who died during a hunger strike in 1981, in the 2008 film, Hunger. The British-made Channel 4 film was directed by Steve McQueen. Sands was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army; his hunger strike at Northern Ireland's Maze Prison made him a heroic figure among Republican supporters - and he was elected a Member of Parliament while in prison before his death. This film has won awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Michael Fassbender received the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Awards.[6]
He has been cast as 'Richard Wirth' in the Joel Schumacher film Creek, alongside Prison Break star Dominic Purcell. Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, Batman Forever, Phone Booth) has signed to direct Creek, the vampire horror movie for Gold Circle and Lionsgate. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi vampire and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off of for years. "There is blood in it, but it's not really a vampire movie," Schumacher says. The first part of the film will be set in 1936, at the height of Hitler's power, and the second half will be set during the present day, the theme being "ghosts of the past rising up to confront today's world." Dave Kajganich (The Visiting) wrote the screenplay and shooting has been started in Bucharest, Romania.[7][8][9]
One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with Hunger, he appeared in two films. First was Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold. For both, he achieved great critical acclaim.
He has also been cast alongside Josh Brolin and Megan Fox in comic book adaptation "Jonah Hex".
Awards
- Best Actor for Hunger - Chicago International Film Festival 2008 Silver Hugo - Winner
- Best Actor for Hunger- London Critics Circle Film Awards 2009 - Winner
- Best Supporting Actor in television for The Devil's Whore - IFTA 2009 - Nominated
- Best Actor in a Feature Film for Hunger - IFTA 2009 - Winner
- Best Actor for Hunger - BIFA 2009 - Winner
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Burton 'Pat' Christenson | TV mini series |
| Hearts and Bones | Geoff Posner | TV series, 3 episodes | |
| 2002 | NCS Manhunt | Jack Silver | TV series |
| Holby City | Christian Connolly | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2003 | Carla | Rob | TV |
| 2004 | Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | Guy Fawkes | TV |
| Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder - The Case of Charles Bravo | Charles Bravo | TV | |
| A Bear Named Winnie | Lt. Harry Colebourn | TV | |
| Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | Charles Allen | TV | |
| 2005 | Murphy's Law | Caz Miller | TV series, 5 episodes |
| Our Hidden Lives | German POW | TV | |
| Hex | fallen angel Azazeal | TV series, 12 episodes (2 seasons, 2004-2005) | |
| William and Mary | Lukasz | TV series, 1 episode | |
| 2006 | Poirot episode After the Funeral | George Abernethie | TV series, 1 episode |
| Trial & Retribution: Sins of the Father | Douglas Nesbitt | TV | |
| 2007 | 300 | Stelios | |
| Angel | Esmé Howe-Nevinson | premiered Feb. 17th, directed by Francois Ozon | |
| Wedding Belles | Barney | TV, premiered on March 29th | |
| 2008 | Hunger | Bobby Sands | British Independent Film Awards 2008 for Best Actor Chicago International Film Festival. Silver Hugo prize for Best Actor IFTA Award for Best Actor Nominated - European Film Awards 2008 for Best Actor |
| Eden Lake | Steve | ||
| The Devil's Whore | Thomas Rainsborough | TV mini series | |
| 2009 | Creek | Richard Wirth | |
| Fish Tank | Connor | ||
| Inglourious Basterds | Lt. Archie Hicox | ||
| 2010 | Centurion | Quintas Dias | |
| Jonah Hex | Burke | ||
| TBA | The Sweeney | George Carter |
References
- ^ Actor fights them on the stage over smoking ban - Times Online
- ^ http://living.scotsman.com/movies/Interview-Michael-Fassbender--Lean.5536707.jp
- ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6818757.ece
- ^ http://www.onstagescotland.co.uk/allegiance.htm
- ^ http://www.thecustard.tv/comingupC4.html
- ^ 10 - FASSBENDER TO STAR AS BOBBY SANDS
- ^ http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=119158.html
- ^ http://www.orange.fr/bin/frame.cgi?u=http%3A//cine.orange.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D119158.html
- ^ http://www.cinematical.com/2007/03/10/joel-scumacher-talks-up-next-horror-film-town-creek/
External links
- Michael Fassbender at IMDb
- Michael Fassbender on Hex at FEARnet
- http://michael-fassbender.net/
- http://www.i-conoclastic.com/MichaelFassbender/
- http://community.livejournal.com/fassbenderfans/
- http://www.angel-lefilm.com/
- http://themichaelfassbenderhexperience.com
- http://fassinatingfassbender.blogspot.com/
- http://www.francois-ozon.com/english/trailer/angel.html