Michael Fassbender: Rom-coms ‘don’t interest me that much’

MICHAEL Fassbender has had a go in almost every genre, ranging from westerns to crime thrillers. But there’s one genre you’re unlikely to see him in anytime soon.

Fans couldn’t get enough of this man.

IF YOU’RE planning to stalk Bondi looking for Michael Fassbender over the next few months, you better pick up your pace.

The actor is in Sydney filming Ridley Scott’s Prometheus follow-up, Alien: Covenant, and last night walked the blue carpet for the X-Men: Apocalypse premiere to a cacophony of noise from eager fans.

Asked if he’s often recognised in Australia, he told news.com.au: “Kind of, it’s 50/50. I walk fast so by the time someone recognises me, I’m usually down the block.”

Hear that? You’ll need to break into a longer stride if you’re hoping to “run into” the actor.

Despite the long list of acclaimed performances from the Irish-German actor, it is for his role as Magneto, one of the mutant leads in the X-Men prequel trilogy that fans bring up. “It’s usually Magneto. He’s the most recognisable guy, whether I’m in Brazil or here or in India. It’s Magneto.”

While he may be best known for X-Men, it was his breakout role in Steve McQueen’s 2008 indie film Hunger that first garnered him attention. His raw portrayal of IRA hero Bobby Sands in the 1981 Irish hunger strike made the film world stand up and take notice.

Serious stuff. Picture: 20th Century Fox.

He followed that up with strong performances in English flick Fish Tank and a scene-stealing turn in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. The same year Fassbender started his X-Men journey, he also starred in Cary Fukunaga’s excellent adaptation of Jane Eyre and as an emotionally tortured sex addict in McQueen’s Shame, a performance praised by critics for its intensity and sadness.

Since then, he has been nominated for two Oscars (12 Years A Slave, Steve Jobs) and traversed almost every genre from sci-fi to westerns to classic crime thrillers but the one he’s never really explored is comedy. Frank, at times a black comedy, was the closest.

Would audiences ever see him in a romantic or stoner comedy? “Maybe, if the script is to my liking,” he said in a manner that suggested it wasn’t likely to happen any time soon. “I’ve got a few of them [pitched to me]. Nothing against them but it’s just that I don’t tend to go see a romantic comedy that often, they don’t really interest me that much. [But] I do like comedies.”

The release of X-Men: Apocalypse marks the third huge comic book movie to hit our screens in six weeks. Fassbender wouldn’t commit to how long he thinks those franchises will sustain. “Things will go the way they will. Things will always run their course at some point. Back in the fifties people were watching a lot of westerns. Things have cycles to them but I don’t know when.”

Being swamped.

As for his personal tastes, he said that while he’s fan of all kinds of movies, “sometimes I want to go in and enjoy a rollercoaster ride and escape for two hours, a fantasy ride. And then other times, I want to go see something that’s more of a social commentary and is a smaller-type film. So like to play both as well.”

Which is reflected in his upcoming releases with the smaller-scale Light Between The Oceans due out later this year while the video game adaptation Assassin’s Creed is due for release in January.

X-Men: Apocalypse will be in cinemas this Thursday May 19.

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