These days if you watch a string of movie trailers back-to-back, there's a good (1-in-4?) chance that you'll see the face of Michael Fassbender appear onscreen. In the last two years alone, Fassbender has been a standout performer in an ecclectic blend of films ranging from big-budget thrill rides (Jonah Hex, Haywire, Prometheus), to more stirring and/or provocative indie dramas (Jane Eyre, Shame, A Dangerous Method).
However, the general moviegoing public best knows Fassbender from his role as a young Magneto in X-Men: First Class - and are eagerly anticipating his return to the character in the already announced X-Men: First Class 2 (tentative title). Scroll down to read what Fassbender had to say at the Prometheus press junket about returning to the X-Men movie universe - as well as his many, many other movie roles.
In regards to how First Class 2 is shaping up, Fassbender seemed optimistic:
It looks like with X-Men we are going to be starting up next year I think, so I’m excited by the prospect of that, and the ideas that have been floating around on that court, and to get back together with that team again.
On the other hand, the actor seemed rather nonchalant about the usual challenges when it comes to the sequel chapter of a blockbuster movie franchise like X-Men:
So you know it’s just about another job, really. It’s just another film isn’t it? Just a continuation of that last one. You go on to one and then when that’s done they have to make it available for you to be ready for the next one, so that’s the only thing. It just means going on to the next film when it’s ready to go.
We just learned (at the time of writing this) that First Class 2 will indeed start shooting in January/February 2013 for a July 2014 release. But given the nonstop pace of Fassbender's onscreen work, what other films will he be adding to his slate? Says the actor:
I’m going on to 12 Years A Slave with [his 'Shame' director ] Steve [McQueen] in New Orleans right after here. Well I’ve got to go to Los Angeles and New York for more promotion [of 'Prometheus'] and then out there with two weeks of prep and then I go into it.
Though it may not seem like it at the moment - what with his face plastered all over billboards and ads for Prometheus - Fassbender has actually been taking a breather from acting. Let's just say we weren't the only ones who noticed that his face was appearing onscreen more often than not. When asked whether he truly hasn't acted in a role since July of 2011, Fassbender responded:
Yeah. It felt good. I needed to stop. I needed to get some perspective. I had done six films back to back in 20 months, so it was like “Okay, take a break” and then the promotion thing kicked in and then I really wanted to make DMC, my production company, really work as opposed to just an idea and you’ve got to put a lot of time into that. So I really did focus energies in that, working with writers, finding the writers, and so now I go back to acting again, plus my friends are like “We are fucking sick of you and we see your face everywhere,” so I was like “Okay, I won’t do anything for a while.”
Don't expect that respite to last. With franchise-worthy properties like Prometheus and X-Men already in his pocket, and strong working relationships with acclaimed directors ranging from Steven Soderbergh to Quentin Tarantino to Steve McQueen, Michael Fassbender's silver-screen invasion shows no signs of abating in the near future. That is, unless he needs another breather.
Prometheus will be in UK theaters on June 1, 2012; and US theaters on June 8, 2012.
X-Men: First Class 2 will be in theaters on July 18, 2014.