Michael Fassbender (9 page)

McQueen’s pictures paint a thousand words and it is not until the second act, with Michael and Liam Cunningham seated across a desk in the prison visiting room, that there is any real dialogue. The sparky, sometimes humorous, combative conversation comes as something of a relief to viewers who have watched grim, sombre and upsetting scenes of cruelty and endurance. After Sands tells Father Moran that he is intent on a hunger strike to attract more publicity, the final act follows him through his dying days as he gets weaker and starts to hallucinate. Dialogue is minimal once more as the audience is invited to watch his bleak demise. The time for talking is over and Sands is on course for death.

A
fter the filming for
Hunger
was completed, Michael had a final health check-up with his doctor to see that he had not harmed himself with the weight loss. ‘My doctor said, “Last time you came in here my assistant was outside and she saw you and said, ‘My God, that guy’s really ill, isn’t he?’ She thought you had cancer.”’

After being given the all clear, he headed to a sushi restaurant in Belfast with Steve McQueen for his first proper meal in months. The small bites suited his condition at a time when his body was not used to handling large amounts of food. But he was freezing cold in the restaurant and wore a thick, padded coat throughout the meal. He ate more sushi than he should
have done because he found that he couldn’t stop. ‘They say your stomach contracts when you cut down on your food intake but I’m not sure I found that to be the case!’ he said. ‘I ate rather too much sushi than was good for me and, at the end of the meal, I was almost literally laid out cold. It was a weird sensation, like nothing I’d experienced before.’

It took a month’s break with Maiko at her apartment in Australia to fully get over his
Hunger
pain. After two weeks he had regained all the weight he had lost and he thoroughly enjoyed the liberty to relax and enjoy himself. ‘I felt a huge sense of relief the day after we finished shooting,’ he remembered. ‘I just wanted to get completely away from
Hunger
, to shake off the role of Bobby Sands and try to get back to some kind of normal life. And I began to appreciate the good things in life more than ever.’

Michael hadn’t seen much of Maiko during the filming of
Hunger
so he was pleased to spend some quality time with her in the Australian sunshine as she helped him to relax and get back to normal. ‘We ate, we slept, we went to the beach – and those terrible scenes in
Hunger
slowly started to disappear from my mind,’ he said.

On 17 February, he and Maiko travelled to Dublin for the annual Irish Film and Television Awards at the Gaiety Theatre. Here he was to present a Best Actress in a Supporting Role Television award to Maria Doyle Kennedy, for her role as Queen Catherine of Aragon in the
historical TV drama,
The Tudors
. She was unable to attend, however, so Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who played King Henry VIII, received it in her place. At the after-party revels at the Shelbourne Hotel, Michael was reunited with Liam Cunningham and they enjoyed the company of the likes of Rhys Meyers, Colin Farrell, Victoria Smurfit and Hollywood stars Mel Gibson – recognised with an IFTA award for his Contribution To World Cinema – Rene Russo and Bo Derek.

Later that spring Michael flew out to South Africa to team up again with his
300
co-star Dominic West in a lavish four-part historical drama for Channel 4 called
The Devil’s Whore
. It told the story of the English Civil War through the eyes of a spirited 17th-century aristocratic woman named Angelica Fanshawe (Andrea Riseborough). After growing up at a time when the country was both politically and religiously divided, Angelica becomes part of the court of Charles I (Peter Capaldi), enjoying a life of carefree privilege. But England is changing and outside Angelica’s gilt-edged world, the people are poor, sick, hungry and angry. And now they are demanding that society and government change radically to ensure a better life for all.

The Royal Family are forced to abandon London and take refuge in Oxford. Finally, the long-threatened war breaks out, with the Royalists and Parliamentarians clashing at the bloody Battle of Edgehill. Finally, the King
is put on trial for treason and Oliver Cromwell becomes the first head of the Republican Government.

Michael initially auditioned for the role of the radical anti-monarchist Colonel Edward Sexby but that went to John Simm and he ended up playing the political Roundhead firebrand Thomas Rainsborough. Dominic Wells played Cromwell.

In an official Channel 4 interview for the drama, Michael said,

Michael said that his history lessons at school had not taught him about the fighting for social justice during this
era. ‘I never knew that there was any of this sentiment in seventeenth-century England, with people fighting for the freedom of all men. They just wanted to sweep out the whole system. It would have been very interesting to see what would have happened if they’d got their way.’

The drama was filmed in South Africa, which offered cheaper production costs, and the money saved was put back into the drama. The costumes were particularly sumptuous and the cast was full of admiration for them. ‘I’d always thought the Roundheads stuff was a bit uninspiring,’ said Dominic West, ‘but when you actually put the kit on, all that leather and armour and thigh-length boots, it was just so sexy. You think the Cavaliers have a better look but they don’t – they look quite poncey.’ West saw the funny side of things too, adding, ‘In terms of clanking around in all that armour, I often felt I was in
Carry on Cromwell
. And Monty Python’s spectre is never too far away in these things either.’

For his role as Rainsborough, Michael grew his hair down to his shoulders and sported a moustache and goatee beard. On location, he, Simm and West formed a firm alliance, hanging out between breaks, chatting, laughing and recalling old times – more like the Three Musketeers than Puritan Roundheads. ‘I had more fun on this than anything I’ve ever done, mainly because of Michael and John,’ said West. ‘By the end, we were saying we didn’t ever want to do any role again that wasn’t on a horse. Sword fights, charging on horseback – it was
brilliant, exactly what you always wanted to do from the age of six.’

Michael, as was becoming his custom, took his guitar with him to pass the time in the evenings and on days when he wasn’t required for filming but he was enjoying himself so much that John Simm got to play it more than he did himself. ‘Michael was out and I’d stay in, strumming away,’ Simm joked. ‘That’s how old I am. It’s over!’

The drama was shown in the autumn of 2008 and was well received by viewers and critics. ‘What marks this out from your average bodice-ripper is the quality of the acting,’ said the
Observer
. ‘A rollicking good drama,’ agreed the
Guardian
. ‘Three loud cheers for
The Devil’s Whore
, historical drama as cutting as the lash that bloodies one agitator’s back,’ said
The Times
.

During one break in filming, Michael flew to Cannes for the film festival in May, when
Hunger
was receiving its world premiere. He was joined by his parents, who watched the screening in some discomfort as their emaciated son portrayed a dying man in prison. Josef later told the Kerry newspaper the
Kingdom
, ‘When we saw him in the film, A [Adele] and myself were both so frightened. He looked desperate. But he had to go on a diet as the film would have looked ridiculous if he had not.’ But when the film received a standing ovation, they were mightily proud of him and what he had endured for his
art. A grinning Michael turned to his father and said, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’

A first-time director, an actor in his first leading role, a grim film with scarce dialogue, subject matter which suggested limited international appeal – it would have challenged any gambler to bet on its odds of success. But in the event
Hunger
won the coveted Camera d’Or for Best First Feature.

After being presented with the award, Steve McQueen said, ‘My film was about The Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1981 hunger strikes. Within the prison, there were prison officers who I identify with and protestors who I identify with. The film is about people in a situation and what these people do. Thank you very much.’

The film’s co-producer Laura Hastings-Smith thought the story went beyond the prison walls to strike a chord with everyone around the world. ‘We’re all absolutely thrilled, and thrilled for Steve, thrilled for the film and for everyone who’s worked on
Hunger
,’ she said. ‘The key to the film was that it looked at the humanity of the story and how this place, Maze Prison, at that time in history, was a brutalising place for everyone – be you prison officer, prisoner, orderly or riot guard. It was a tragedy for everyone. We looked at what happens when dialogue stops and that has a resonance across the world.’

After the most unpromising of initial meetings, Michael and Steve had forged an unlikely alliance, friendship and respect. Both had been on escalating
career paths to fame but now they stood on the brink of international acclaim and stardom. Life for both of them would change immeasurably.

Hunger
may have had the look of an art-house film – slow paced, beautifully shot, minimal dialogue – but Steve McQueen baulked at such a notion. ‘What I tried to do was make the strongest, most powerful film I could from the events and the story. It may not have the conventional narrative of most feature films but that is my way of grappling with the subject. Art has absolutely nothing to do with it,’ he told the
Observer
. ‘What initially brought me to the subject was the notion of what an individual is capable of doing just in order to be heard. People say, “Oh, it’s a political film,” but for me it’s essentially about what we, as humans, are capable of, morally, physically, psychologically. What we will inflict and what we can endure.’

And to
Dazed & Confused
magazine, he explained, ‘Film-making is very much about telling stories. Whether I make art or films, it’s about engaging the audience.’ He rejected the suggestion that his film set out to portray Sands as a martyr but said it was ultimately uplifting. ‘The movie is a journey through H Block. You are focusing on the things you find interesting. You follow prison officers. You follow a hunger striker. A prison officer’s routine is just that: routine. But what happens to Bobby Sands is quite extraordinary. Obviously, as a storyteller, you follow that. I am not a nationalist. I am not a unionist. The
human element overrides all that nonsense. Before you are Irish or British, you are a human being.’

Michael also stressed that the film was non-partisan. ‘To balance all that [prisoner cruelty] we show an IRA man gunning down a prison officer in cold blood, in a nursing home in front of his own mother and a room full of elderly residents,’ he said. ‘What I like about the film is you look at it and it’s not about a political thing, it’s about how people treat each other, and how people can be cruel to each and how that affects them as well.’

Both the director and his leading man had much praise for each other. In an interview with the
Hollywood
Reporter
, Steve expressed just how much he admired Michael’s talent as an actor. ‘He’s a game-changer. He’s got a vulnerability and sensuality that is very powerful. He’s got an extraordinary femininity while still being very much a man’s man. That’s what propels him to greater roles. Often with leading actors, there’s a place they go, but they don’t go all the way. There are actors and there are artists, and Michael is an artist.’

Michael reciprocated by enthusing about the experience of working with Steve. ‘Everything about him was a real joy,’ he said. ‘He certainly brought out the best of me. It’s definitely the best work I’ve done to date and a lot of that’s down to him. He’s a pretty extraordinary person to work with.’

Michael knew that
Hunger
would be a life-changing experience and he was truly grateful to be cast in the film.
‘For somebody to take such a risk and give me the opportunity to do that was massive,’ he was later to recall. ‘In terms of me breaking into film and leading-man roles in film,
Hunger
, for sure, changed my life.’

He also revealed that the ‘faeces’ smeared over the cell walls was actually chocolate mousse – ‘I could have wiped a bit off and eaten it!’

Michael’s rapport with Liam Cunningham had developed into a friendship that was to last and he felt fortunate to have been working with him. ‘Liam and I had a great relationship when we were making the film and it was so important for our scene together,’ he said.

While in Cannes he disclosed that he would be playing Heathcliff in a new movie version of Emily Bronte’s classic love story,
Wuthering Heights
. It was to be directed by John Maybury, who had directed
The Jacket
and
The Edge of Love
, both featuring Keira Knightley. ‘I’m very curious who they will cast as Cathy,’ Michael told reporters. ‘Heathcliff is a great role but I’m a bit nervous about it until I get my Yorkshire accent right.’ Pretty Australian actress Abbie Cornish, who had starred in
Somersault, Bright Star
and
Sucker Punch
, was later cast as Cathy.

After his success at Cannes, a joyous Michael bid farewell to his parents and flew back out to South Africa to complete filming on
The Devil’s Whore
. It was then that he was telephoned by Andrea Arnold, a former children’s-TV presenter turned director, who wanted him to be in her
new movie,
Fish Tank
. It was only her second
feature-length
movie. Her first,
Red Road
, had focused on a female CCTV operator on a Glasgow housing estate who spots a face from the past on her monitor – one she had hoped she would never see again. She becomes obsessed with finding out more about this man so she follows him, stalker-like, in real life and on CCTV. The tension builds as viewers wonder what the connection is between the two but it is not until the end that the shocking truth is revealed. The film won several awards, including the Prix du Jury in Cannes in 2006 and the Carl Foreman Award at the British Academy Awards. A previous short,
Wasp
, had won an Oscar in 2005 for Best Live Action Short.