Michael Fassbender is a German-Irish actor who made his screen debut in the 2001 war drama miniseries Band of Brothers as Burton Christenson. [1] Fassbender followed this with a number of television roles including a German motorcycle courier in the drama Hearts and Bones (2001), [2] Guy Fawkes in the miniseries Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004), Lt. Harry Colebourn in the film A Bear Named Winnie (2004), and Azazeal in the series Hex (2004–05). He made his film debut playing a Spartan soldier in Zack Snyder's 300 (2007). [3] [4]
In 2008, Fassbender portrayed Irish republican Bobby Sands during the events of the 1981 Irish hunger strike in Steve McQueen's historical drama Hunger . [5] His performance garnered him the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Awards, and the Irish Film and Television Awards. [6] [7]
Fassbender appeared as a British soldier in Quentin Tarantino-directed film Inglourious Basterds (2009). In 2011, he played Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method , and a man suffering with sex addiction in McQueen's Shame . [8] His performance in the latter earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. [8] In the same year he appeared in superhero film X-Men: First Class as young Magneto. In 2013, Fassbender reteamed with McQueen on the period drama 12 Years a Slave . For his role as a slave owner in the film he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. [9]
In 2014, he reprised his role as Magneto in the superhero sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past which grossed a box-office total of over $747 million—his highest grossing release as of September 2019. [10] In 2015, he appeared as the title character in Justin Kurzel's film adaptation of the play Macbeth . In the same year, Fassbender's portrayal of Steve Jobs in Danny Boyle's eponymous film garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. [11]
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
† | Denotes titles that have not yet been released |
Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | Band of Brothers | Burton Christenson | [1] | |
Hearts and Bones | Hermann | 3 episodes | [2] [55] | |
2002 | NCS: Manhunt | Jack Silver | [2] | |
Holby City | Christian Connolly | Episode: "Ghosts" | [2] | |
2003 | Carla | Rob | Television film | [2] |
2004 | Gunpowder, Treason & Plot | Guy Fawkes | [56] | |
Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder | Charles Bravo | [57] | ||
A Bear Named Winnie | Lt. Harry Colebourn | [58] [59] | ||
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | Charles Allen | [60] | ||
2004–2005 | Hex | Azazeal | [61] | |
2005 | Murphy's Law | Caz Miller | 5 episodes | [62] |
Our Hidden Lives | German POW | Television film | [63] | |
William and Mary | Lukasz | Episode #3.3 | [64] | |
2006 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | George Abernethie | Episode: "After the Funeral" | [63] |
Trial & Retribution | Douglas Nesbitt | 2 episodes | [65] | |
2007 | Wedding Belles | Barney | Television film | [66] [67] |
2008 | The Devil's Whore | Thomas Rainsborough | [68] | |
2019–present | Michael Fassbender: Road to Le Mans | Self | Documentary series | [69] |
2025 | The Agency † | "Martian" | Upcoming; also executive producer | [70] [71] |
Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Fable III | Logan (voice) | [72] |
Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor. A leading man in blockbusters and independent films since the 2000s, he has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards and a nomination for an Academy Award. The Irish Times named him Ireland's fifth-greatest film actor in 2020, and Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
Michael Christopher Sheen is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in Romeo and Juliet (1992), Don't Fool with Love (1993), Peer Gynt (1994), The Seagull (1995), The Homecoming (1997), and Henry V (1997). He received Olivier Awards nominations for his performances in Amadeus (1998) at the Old Vic, Look Back in Anger (1999) at the National Theatre and Caligula (2003) at the Donmar Warehouse.
Michael Fassbender is an actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number nine on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Carey Hannah Mulligan is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award.
Hunger is a 2008 historical drama film about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was directed by Steve McQueen and starred Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon.
Shame is a 2011 British erotic psychological drama film, set in New York, directed by Steve McQueen, co-written by McQueen and Abi Morgan, and starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan as grown siblings. It was co-produced by Film4 and See-Saw Films. The film's explicit scenes reflecting the protagonist's sexual addiction resulted in a rating of NC-17 in the United States. Shame was released in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for Fassbender's and Mulligan's performances, realistic depiction of sexual addiction, and direction.
Alicia Amanda Vikander is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Will Smith is an American actor, rapper and film producer. His breakthrough came when he played a fictionalised version of himself in the 1990s television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The role brought him international recognition and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. He also served as an executive producer on 24 episodes of the series. Two years later, Smith made his film debut in the drama Where the Day Takes You, where he appeared as a disabled homeless man. In 1995, he starred as a police officer with Martin Lawrence in Michael Bay's Bad Boys. The following year, Smith appeared as a Marine Corps pilot with Jeff Goldblum in Roland Emmerich's science fiction film Independence Day. The film grossed over $817 million at the worldwide box office and was the highest grossing of 1996. In 1997, he starred as Agent J in the science fiction film Men in Black, a role he reprised in its sequels Men in Black II (2002) and Men in Black 3 (2012).
American-born Australian actress and producer Nicole Kidman has appeared in numerous film and television projects, as well as in theatre productions. She made her film debut in the Australian drama Bush Christmas in 1983. Four years later, she starred in the television miniseries Bangkok Hilton, for which she received the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama. Her breakthrough role was as a married woman trapped on a yacht with a murderer in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm. She followed this with her Hollywood debut opposite Tom Cruise in Tony Scott's auto-racing film Days of Thunder (1990). Her role as a homicidal weather forecaster in Gus Van Sant's crime comedy-drama To Die For garnered Kidman a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical in 1996. She worked with Cruise again on Ron Howard's Far and Away (1992) and Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut in 1999.
Natalie Portman is an Israeli-American actress and filmmaker. She made her film debut in Luc Besson's action thriller Léon: The Professional, which starred her as the young protégée of a hitman. She followed this by appearing in Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat (1995), Ted Demme's romantic comedy Beautiful Girls (1996), and Tim Burton's science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! (1996). Three years later, her supporting role as the precocious, responsible daughter of a narcissistic mother played by Susan Sarandon in the drama Anywhere but Here earned Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. In the same year, she played Padmé Amidala in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogyStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which brought her international recognition. She reprised the role in its sequels Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Macbeth is a 2015 epic historical drama film directed by Justin Kurzel and written for the screen by Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, and Michael Lesslie, based on William Shakespeare's eponymous play. The film stars Michael Fassbender in the title role and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth, with Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Jack Reynor, Elizabeth Debicki and David Thewlis in supporting roles. The story follows a Scottish lord's rise to power after receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Like the play it was adapted from, the film dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.
James Franco is an American actor and filmmaker. He began acting on television, guest-starring in Pacific Blue (1997). He landed his breakthrough role in the comedy-drama television series Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000). After his film debut in Never Been Kissed (1999), Franco won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film and was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award and Primetime Emmy Award in the same categories for playing the eponymous actor in the 2001 television biopic James Dean. He went on to play Harry Osborn in the superhero film Spider-Man (2002), and reprised the role in its sequels Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). For the last of the three, he garnered a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor. His only screen appearance of 2003 was in the ballet film The Company. Franco directed and starred in the comedy The Ape (2005).
Frank is a 2014 independent black comedy film directed by Lenny Abrahamson, produced by David Barron, Ed Guiney and Stevie Lee and written by Jon Ronson and Peter Straughan. It stars Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, and François Civil.
Alien: Covenant is a 2017 science fiction horror film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and written by John Logan and Dante Harper from a story by Michael Green and Jack Paglen. A joint American and British production, it is part of the Alien franchise, serving as a sequel to Prometheus (2012). It features returning star Michael Fassbender, with Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir in supporting roles. It follows the crew of a colony ship that lands on an uncharted planet and makes a terrifying discovery.
Assassin's Creed is a 2016 historical science fiction action film based on the video game franchise published by Ubisoft. The film is directed by Justin Kurzel, written by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, and stars Michael Fassbender, as well as Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams. The film is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story that expands the series' mythology. The plot revolves around Callum "Cal" Lynch (Fassbender), who is abducted by the Abstergo Foundation because of his heritage. Cal's ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood—a fictional organization inspired by the real-life Order of Assassins—active during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th-century, who swore to protect the Apple of Eden, an artifact believed to contain the key to humanity's free will. Cal must accept his Assassin heritage and stop Abstergo, the Templar Order of the modern-day, from finding the Apple and using it to enslave humanity.
Steve Jobs is a 2015 biographical drama film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Aaron Sorkin. A British-American co-production, it was adapted from the 2011 biography by Walter Isaacson and interviews conducted by Sorkin. The film covers fourteen years in the life of Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, specifically ahead of three press conferences he gave during that time - the formal unveiling of the Macintosh 128K on January 24, 1984, the unveiling of the NeXT Computer on October 12, 1988, and the unveiling of the iMac G3 on May 6, 1998. Jobs is portrayed by Michael Fassbender, with Kate Winslet as Joanna Hoffman, Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, and Jeff Daniels as John Sculley in supporting roles.
The Snowman is a 2017 British psychological thriller film directed by Tomas Alfredson and written by Peter Straughan, Hossein Amini, and Søren Sveistrup. The story is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Jo Nesbø. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Ferguson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Val Kilmer, and J. K. Simmons, and follows inspector Harry Hole as he tracks a serial killer who builds snowmen at his crime scenes. Principal photography began on 18 January 2016 in Norway, before moving to London and Sweden.
The Killer is a 2023 American action thriller film directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker. It is based on the French graphic novel series The Killer written by Alexis "Matz" Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. The film stars Michael Fassbender alongside Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O'Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, and Tilda Swinton in supporting roles. Fassbender plays an assassin who embarks on an international vendetta after a hit goes wrong.