by Jim Maloney
Michael was impressed, thinking the script intelligent, well constructed and respectful of the lineage of the story. ‘It was a real thriller with real anticipation. Alien had that. The atmosphere was thick. You knew that something was going to happen. It’s very rare that you can read that in a script.’ By way of preparation, he chose not to revisit Alien or its sequels, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, but instead watched one of his favourite Ridley Scott movies, Blade Runner.
His inspiration when it came to David’s posture and movement was not an obvious one. He modelled him on the American Olympic diver, Greg Louganis. As for his behaviour and personality, Michel felt there should be an androgynous quality to David. With his hair dyed blond for the role – which, he remarked, made him look like ‘a ten-quid rent boy’ – he thought of TE Lawrence and David Bowie, who ‘both have a feminine quality about them’.
He also joked to Empire magazine, ‘I haven’t suggested this to Ridley but I want David to be doing a robot dance, in a secret disco room on the ship. I want him sitting there with a disco ball and a floor that lights up!’
Filming began in March 2011 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. ‘It’s the story of creation, the gods and the man who stood against them. It’s not a small film,’ commented Ridley to journalists. ‘I’m using the giant James Bond 007 stage at Pinewood and six other sound stages to film it.’ Other filming took place in Spain, Toronto and Iceland, where the first 15 minutes of the film unfold in a ‘beginning of time’ sequence.
Michael was dazzled by the big-budget effects. Walking on set, he said, was like walking on a spaceship with all the panels, screens and lights. Much of it was physically there rather than added later via CGI. Attention to detail was important, Ridley said, right down to the smallest of things – even shoelaces. ‘There was even a big argument about the globular helmets,’ he said. ‘I was certain I wanted the fully spherical glass helmet. I’m in 2083 and I’m going to space – why would I design a helmet that has blind spots when what I want is a globular helmet, a three-sixty?’
Michael was also impressed by how unpretentious, accessible and available Ridley was to everyone on set, always willing to listen to ideas. Like other quality directors Michael had worked with, Ridley encouraged his actors to use their intuitive and interpretative skills as much as possible, rather than bluntly be told what to do. ‘Ridley comes to you with an interesting prop and says, “I see your character maybe messing around with this,”’ Michael explained to GQ magazine. ‘It’s just the oddest little things – like he might rub his finger on a desk to test for dust and then you’re thinking “OK, right, that’ll take me on a mental tangent.”
‘That’s the thing with all these directors – none of them want to give you a direct, “Just do this in the scene.” They want you to find it by yourself. A great director is a great manipulator. They might manipulate you two nights before at a dinner by saying a phrase or by mentioning a piece of information that you realise when you come on set, “Ah, that’s what they’re talking about.” You don’t even realise they’re doing it.’
The glasses that Ridley wanted Rafe Spall to wear as Millburn, however, caused much amusement among the cast after Rafe said that they made him look like Dame Edna Everage!
Screenwriter Damon Lindelof (whose credits include the TV series Lost and the offbeat Daniel Craig-Harrison Ford movie Cowboys & Aliens) remarked on how impressed he was by eager fans of Alien.
I’ve been astonished by the patience of the fan base in terms of how little we’re telling them about the movie. There does seem to be this dance we’re doing together where people want to know more about it and we say, ‘Do you really want to know?’ and they say, ‘No no no no no! We don’t! We actually just want to go into the movie not knowing if there’s a bomb under the table or not or when it’s going to go off.’
Ridley has always had a tremendous amount of faith in the audience’s intelligence and he directs in a way and tells stories in a way that you come up to them, as opposed to it talks down to you. I feel like Prometheus is a proud member of that thing he does so well.
Damon also felt that the film tapped in to how humans would view exploring space in the years to come. ‘Space exploration in the future is going to evolve into this idea that it’s not just about going out there and finding planets to build colonies,’ he said. ‘It also has this inherent idea that the further we go out, the more we learn about ourselves. The characters in this movie are preoccupied by the idea: what are our origins?’
After filming wrapped at the end of July, Michael finally took his overdue break. He had been looking forward to a holiday at one of his favourite holiday destinations – Trancoso in Brazil with its beautiful white beaches. ‘I love the Brazilian temperament,’ he has said. ‘Everything is very sexy. They do everything better and sexier than we do. There’s a spirit of joy and living life that’s very infectious and nice to be around.’
A keen world traveller, Michael enjoys meeting people and experiencing different cultures. Often he will pop into a church on his travels and light a candle but he drifted away from Catholicism years ago – ‘too many contradictions’. However, he still respects priests and sees them as figures of authority so he was chastened when he wandered into a church in Germany and was told off by the priest for wearing a hat. ‘My grandfather would have been very cross,’ he later remarked. ‘He believed that if you entered any building at all, you took your hat off.’
When X-Men: First Class opened in June 2011 it was a critical and box-office smash. Michael, in particular, was picked out for attention. He had entered the big-studio movie world without shedding his credibility and it sent his star appeal soaring. In playing Magneto he had managed to avoid a one-dimensional, comic-book caricature in which a super-power and a cool outfit zapped gravitas and emotional inner struggles. Michael’s portrayal was of a real man with real anxieties, which allowed even non-fans of the genre to enjoy his performance and the movie.
The Sun raved, ‘In every sense this is genuinely First Class.’ The Telegraph smelled an instant hit. ‘In a summer movie season that promises to be dominated by superheroes and special effects, a group of mutants and telepaths are set to rule the box office,’ it said, adding, ‘It’s not your average superhero movie.’
As well as describing it as a ‘rip-roaringly enjoyable action prequel’, the Daily Mirror echoed Michael’s thoughts. ‘It doesn’t feel like a superhero movie, being more interested in the characters struggling with their outsider status than KAPOW! moments,’ it said. ‘You don’t get people this rounded in your standard Oscar flick. And, if it doesn’t feel like a typical superhero movie, it doesn’t look like one either, more closely resembling an early James Bond film.’
The Independent on Sunday also picked up on the Bond theme. ‘The young Magneto (Ian McKellen in the first films) is a dashing Nazi-hunter played by Michael Fassbender with more than a dash of James Bond and Harry Palmer.’ The Daily Express agreed: ‘Sleek, charismatic Fassbender shows us what a perfect Bond he could be.’
Several critics thought the film revitalised the X-Men series. The Daily Express said, ‘First Class takes the X-Men story back to its roots and is just the kick in the pants the series needed. It is smart, spectacular, never cheesy, often thrilling and always incredibly entertaining.’ The Telegraph concurred that it was ‘a stylish, snappy reboot to the Marvel comics series’, although it did criticise Michael’s accent for ‘being all over the place’. In America, USA Today said the movie ‘revives the flagging franchise with this globe-trotting iteration, infusing it with new life and dazzling visual effects’.
In all, it was generally agreed that Michael’s performance stood out among a good cast. The New York Post raved, ‘A large and talented cast manages to make more than a dozen characters pop, but still this is the Michael Fassbender show. He was a wonder as Bobby Sands in Hunger and showed huge charisma in Basterds. Now he’s where Christian Bale was about six years ago, a fresh
, silky menace ready to fill any helmet or fire any weapon you’ve got.’
The Washington Post agreed: ‘In all honesty, FirstClassbelongs to one actor, and that’s Fassbender, whose Erik/Magneto emerges as one of the most nuanced, conflicted, genuinely antiheroic protagonists in recent comic-book-movie memory. As a transparent and eminently watchable vessel for contradictory impulses – vulnerability and superhuman strength, victimization and destruction, discipline and reckless rage – Fassbender’s Magneto is not unlike Bobby Sands, the IRA activist he portrayed in the 2008 film Hunger. His penultimate set piece, when Magneto singlehandedly raises a submarine out of deep waters through sheer force of his will, is one of those rare instances when an authentic screen performance isn’t drowned out by sheer spectacle.’
Entertainment Weekly, meanwhile, was very taken with Michael and James McAvoy’s partnership. ‘McAvoy and Fassbender are a casting triumph. These two have, yes, real star magnetism, both individually and together. They’re both cool and intense, suave and unaffected, playful and dead serious about their grand comic-book work.’
Back home, Josef was amazed and proud of his son’s career success and impressed by the top-drawer people he had got to work with. ‘For him to be working with big actors, all the top guns… we never thought we would see this day. It’s great. You can see he enjoys what he does,’ he told the Irish Independent.
But what about his future? With most of the First Class story set at the height of the Cold War and an evil megalomaniac out to conquer the world, Michael’s cold and ruthless portrayal of Magneto (not to mention the bespoke 1960s clothes) had had quite a few critics thinking of him as the next James Bond.
When the IndieLondon website asked him if he’d be interested in playing 007, Michael replied, ‘Well, it’s very flattering of course and Matthew [Vaughn] had sort of mentioned in some of the earlier meetings that it [the film] did evoke a lot of memories for him of those earlier Bond films. But for me in terms of approaching the character of Erik, I didn’t really go along that route. I mean, they dressed me up in clothes and bespoke suits that sort of harked back to those early Bond films but I really just approached it through the material that was available from the comic books. In terms of what I might expect or be hoping for in the future… I never try and plan anything. I never expect anything. I think Daniel [Craig] is doing a fantastic job, so let’s just deal with this film at the moment and see how that turns out.’
He told other reporters, ‘Honestly, I’ve heard a lot of stories but nothing has been brought officially to me. It’s a huge honour to even be associated with the [Bond] movies and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered. If anything did ever happen – in my wildest dreams, of course – it would make me the first ginger Bond! Some people did kick up about Daniel Craig being the first blond 007 but I wonder how they would feel about a red-headed one instead.’
But speculation and rumour only intensified after Daniel Craig himself gave Michael his seal of approval a few weeks later. In an interview with the Irish Sun, he said, ‘Without a shadow of a doubt, the role is Michael’s. Honestly, he has my blessing. I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s just such a brilliant actor with a phenomenal presence. If he’s up for it, I think he’d be a perfect fit for the part. You can see him as 007 – he has all the right traits. It’s meant to be. I’m also a big fan of his work so I’d happily pass the torch to him, whenever that will be.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EASY RIDER
Now with time to unwind, Michael – a big Formula 1 racing fan – was invited by the Red Bull team to watch the British F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, along with actress Gemma Arterton and rapper Goldie.
In an interview with Jeremy Clarkson, host of BBC1’s Top Gear, he admitted being star-struck when he spotted his hero, Michael Schumacher, emerging from the Mercedes garage. ‘I ran behind him like a stalker calling, “Schumacher, Schumacher,” and he kept walking. So I was like, “Michael!” He stopped and I shook his hand and said, “I still think you’re the best.” And he looked at me with a bit of a smile but with fear in his eyes. So I did get the chance to meet him but he didn’t know who the hell I was!’
When it comes to speed, Michael usually gets his thrills behind the wheel of a go-kart, which he describes as his favourite pastime. He also loves travelling long distances on his motorbike, a BMW 1200 GS Adventure, which he bought after his Triumph Speed Triple was stolen. ‘You get to clear your head there. It’s a brilliant, freeing thing to do,’ he told Clarkson. In similar vein, he talked to the French magazine, Obsession, about life on the road as being a ‘cathartic experience’ where there was a great feeling of camaraderie between fellow bikers.
That summer Michael took the opportunity to do something he had first talked about with his dad 10 years ago – travel across Europe on a motorbike. When he first mentioned it, he didn’t even have a motorbike or a licence but it was something that father and son both thought, ‘one day’. After he had finished on Prometheus, he really wanted a break and told Josef, ‘This could happen, so be ready to move.’ After some hasty planning he asked his father if he still fancied it and Josef was as enthusiastic as his son. ‘Hats off to him, he’s as tough as nails,’ Michael told the Radio Times.
With Michael on his BMW and Josef on a Triumph Tiger, the pair set off on a 3,000-mile motorcycling holiday across Europe for 2 months. Back home Adele was worried about Josef – with good cause, it seems, because both he and Michael narrowly avoided a serious accident on two separate occasions. ‘At one point I was sandwiched between two speeding cars and I could feel the rush of wind as one missed me by a whisker,’ Michael recalled. ‘Another time he [Josef] nudged out onto a road and looked right but the car was coming from the left and again it was inches away. But thank God, it was all fine.’
Michael turned his phone off for most of the time and enjoyed the freedom of getting away from it all. He and his ‘road mate’ took plenty of time visiting the towns and villages along the way. Although he was occasionally recognised, it was never more than somebody saying that they enjoyed his work, so it was a hassle-free trip that recharged the batteries.
After travelling through Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro, the two of them arrived in Italy. There they visited Sicily, Sorrento, Rome, Florence and Lake Garda before arriving in Venice in time for the Film Festival at the start of September. Both Shame and A Dangerous Method were being premiered there, amid a strong year for British films. Shame, Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights and Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy turned out to be three of the best reviewed and most talked about.
Michael’s mother, Adele, was due to fly in to join them in Venice for the screening of Shame but a back injury meant that she had to stay at home instead. Michael later joked that the injury might have been ‘psychosomatic’ because she wasn’t keen to see her son naked in sex scenes. Michael had warned his father that there was going to be ‘some pretty extreme stuff’ and to prepare himself and Josef had replied, ‘Look, you are an artist and you have got to do your thing.’ But as the audience sat in engrossed silence watching the stark film play out on the screen, Josef leaned towards his son and whispered, ‘Thank God your mother isn’t here.’
At the end of the movie there was a seven-minute standing ovation. It was the first time that Michael had watched the film and he admitted to feeling odd, sitting there knowing that everyone had seen him naked.
David Cronenberg, who was also in Venice, marvelled at how Michael was able to look different in each film and hardly be recognised off screen. After a screening of A Dangerous Method, he recalled that nobody recognised Michael until he was introduced to the audience. The director thought this ‘chameleon’ quality rare and one of Michael’s great skills. Even back home in Hackney people rarely recognised him or, if they did, were pleasant and didn’t bother him and he loved that.
When asked by the Irish Examiner how he coped with cel
ebrity, he replied, ‘None of the trappings of fame really interest me. Ten years ago I would have been very impressed and seduced by all the things that come with it but it doesn’t interest me now.’ He was also niggled by the fact that, once you were successful and financially secure, people gave you things for free. It made him think, ‘Why didn’t you give me that free suit ten years ago when I couldn’t afford to get a bus?’
Shame was hotly tipped to win the prize for Best Film but Michael was star-struck by the glamour around him and couldn’t believe how far he had come in his career. It was the first time he had been to Venice and sitting on a balcony with family and friends, relaxing with a drink and soaking up the atmosphere was one of the most enjoyable moments in his life. Even one of his biggest heroes, Al Pacino, was there and he had to pinch himself to check that it was all for real.
Things were to get even more dream-like. On the closing day of the festival Michael was preparing to fly to the Toronto International Film Festival when word reached him that it might be worth his while to stick around. He hastily postponed the flight and – like a plot from a cheesy movie – arrived at the Sala Grande on the Venice Lido with just 15 minutes to spare before he heard his name called out as winner of the Best Actor prize for Shame.
A beaming Michael walked on stage and said to the audience, ‘Buona sera, Venezia. Grazie mille. It’s really nice when you take a chance and do something and you think it’s relevant, and you hope it’s relevant, and people respond the way they did. So, thank you very much, once again, to Steve McQueen – my hero. And also I’d like to say it’s a real privilege to be in and among the other films, film-makers and actors that have been here at this festival. It’s such a wonderful tradition. Grazie mille.’