Who is Michael Fassbender?

Golden Globe nominee Michael Fassbender did not walk away with the trophy in 2012 but it got a few people thinking about who he was. When George Clooney mentioned him in his acceptance speech many asked the question: who is Michael Fassbender? Many of his fans have been those who discovered him for roles in British TV and foreign or independent films. Alot of his projects have been interesting and he cut his teeth in plenty of British productions. Along the way, Fassbender was also featured in a Guinness commercial and a music video from Blind Pilots. He has a large trademark smile that earned the nickname handsome shark. However, what is most distinctive about Michael Fassbender is his transformation from film to film. If ever there was a male chameleon on screen it is him.

If you are new to Michael Fassbender's work then the following films showcase his diversity as an actor and the sheer entertainment value of his talent.

Inglorious Basterds
Fassbender played the posh speaking Hicox in this 2009 film from Quentin Tarantino. He had a supporting role and was the guy who had the impeccable German speaking lines. Although he was not on screen as often as Brad Pitt or Diane Kruger, you get enough of a glimpse of Fassbender to notice that he definitely has a presence. Fassbender worked with a dialect coach to speak the German lines but he actually does speak German himself having been born in Heidelberg and raised with a German father.

Fish tank
This British independent film was made in 2009 by Andrea Arnold to depict the life of a lost 15-year-old girl living in a council flat. The lead character Mia is a girl living with a mother barely an adult herself and her little sister. Somehow this film was made by the actors only getting the script needed for the next week of shooting. Fassbender said that Arnold had done this so that there would be no preconceived notions of the character or the plot. Fassbender played a man named Connor who gets involved with a single mother and develops an unusual relationship with Mia. It is easy to dismiss this film as just another version of Lolita but there is more to the story. Arnold filmed the scene in an actual council flat apartment and it reveals the bleak emotions and futures of those who lack the ability to alter their circumstances. A sub theme of the fatherless daughter is also evident in how Connor and Mia bond to a disastrous result.

Jane Eyre
The classic tale of Jane Eyre has been told over and over again in countless TV and movies. Sometimes it appears that Jane Eyre is a fixture of literature and dramatic arts. Casting Fassbender in this latest edition and adaptation was somewhat controversial. The role of Mr. Rochester has been played by so many actors and it has been believed that Fassbender was too handsome. Despite the criticism the film was able to create a Rochester who had so much broody moods that you forget how handsome his face is. Even in the scene where Fassbender asks Jane if she found handsome you don’t think about what he looks like. This is a good example of why Fassbender's is one of those actors who does not rely on his looks even though he totally could.

X-Men: First Class
For some fans of the X-Men series this young Magneto that they saw almost made them want to join The Brotherhood. Sir Ian McKellen is a tough act to follow. Had Fassbender not been told to not watch McKellen it could have been difficult to replicate him in a younger age. What he brought to this role helped fans get a sense of how Magneto turned into this mutant psychopath. Between the brooding and the unhealed anger there was also a very sexy side to Erik Lenscherr. Perhaps it was the James Bond like channeling of Connery that also made the young men Magneto well magnetic.

Shame
This independent art-house film was a role that earned Fassbender many awards in 2011 including a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. There are many facets to this film that to simply focus on it as one of sex addiction misses the deeper theme. Fassbender's character Brandon Sullivan struggles with a toxic sense of self hate and an almost blinding compulsion to alter his mood with random encounters. Shame is a very sad story and in between the sheets there is nothing particularly seductive about the story. It is really one that makes you cry and question just what kind of society we live in that profits off base emotions without understanding the consequences on people. Although this film is NC-17 and not released in every city it is worth taking a look at it if you could travel or once it is available on DVD.

A Dangerous Method
On the heels of Shame is a another film that brings yet another demonstration of Fassbender's chameleon prowess. This is the story of the young Dr. Jung before he became the famous Dr. Carl Gustav Jung. Under the tutelage of Sigmund Freud the young Swiss doctor comes under the spell of his very first patient. Fassbender brought the stiffness and sense of confusion that Dr. Jung felt towards Sabina Spielrein and Sigmund Freud. Part of the film is about the friendship between the fathers of modern psychoanalysis who in a slew of ego and ideology broke apart over an intense disagreement. Dr. Jung brought so much to the table for what later became psychoanalysis and it is in his frail humanity that Fassbender shines in depicting a man both serious and capable of throwing caution to the wind.

Keep in mind that Fassbender only began acting professionally in 2001 and in just a decade has given us all this fine body of work already. In a recent feature in The Hollywood Reporter he was referred to as the real deal that does not come along often. Perhaps what is best to notice is that he has so much left in him. His breakthrough role in Hunger in 2008 defined his dedication and Magneto-like focus. Taking on the role of Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands had much of a political weight to it and Fassbender proved his grace under pressure. One thing is certain, his international star is on the rise with the British and Germans trying to claim it as their own. Fassbender is German-Irish but the facebook site for the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. are staking a claim for him as a native son since he was born in Germany to a German father and holds a German passport.