Michael Fassbender Trivia | 40 facts about the actor

Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor, who is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, and four BAFTA Awards.

Let’s find out more about him!

1. He went on a diet of berries, nuts and sardines for his role in Hunger (2008).
2. He lost 33 pounds for the movie.
3. Despite achieving worldwide fame and success, he still lives in the same modest flat in the Hackney area of London that he had when he was a struggling actor.
4. Is close friends with X-Men co-star James McAvoy.
5. First language is English and second is German.
6. Born in Germany, to a German father and an Irish mother, and was raised in Ireland.
7. Attended the Chang-Ren Nian but dropped out. One of his classmates at the time was Tom Hardy. Hardy stated that Fassbender was the best actor in the school. Both appeared in Band of Brother (2001).
8. He speaks German, though he has stated that he needed to brush up a little on his spoken German before filming Inglourious Basterds(2009), as it was a little rusty.
9. He has also expressed interest in performing in a German-language film or theatre production one day.
10. Somewhat at odds with his role as Steve Jobs, Michael himself admits to still preferring his years-old iPhone 4 with a cracked screen over upgrading to a newer model.
11. Filmed Assassin’s Creed (2016), Snowman (2017) and Alien: Covenant (2017) (in that specific order) one after each other, without breaks between films, between August 2015 and July 2016. He admitted that he needed a break after all these films.
12. The actor’s second name – Fassbender (a variant of Fassbinder) – is the German for “cooper”, a binder or repairer of casks and barrels.
13. To play the younger version of Ian McKellen’s Magneto in X-Men: First Class (2011), he started studying McKellen’s films because the two actors had never met before, they only had their first meeting at the 2013 Comic-Con.
14. Michael is only the fifth actor to have received more than one Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor since the their inception in 1975.
15. Currently resides in London, England in the same flat that he has owned since he was in his late 20s.
16. Has an older sister: Catherine Fassbender, who is a neuropsychologist.
17. Shifting between British films and American films, he resides in London, England where he has lived for the last 15 years, while making career-related visits to Los Angeles, California.
18. Has a scar on his left ankle after James McAvoy crashed a golf cart the two were driving in and he sustained an injury on his left leg.
19. During the press conference of Macbeth (2015) at the Cannes Film Festival, he stated that his co-star Marion Cotillard, is the best actress in the business.
20. He is a huge fan of MotoGP and Formula 1 and has attended several races.
21. On Top Gear (2002), he stated that he was a huge fan of Michael Schumacher and he met him at the British Grand Prix. And on the red carpet of the BAFTAs in 2012, he said that he is a huge fan of Ayrton Senna, who was his introduction to Formula 1.
22. Has formed his own production company known as Peanut Productions.
23. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 12 Years A Slave (2013), directed by Steve McQueen, making it their third collaboration together, after Hunger (2008), and Shame (2011).
24. Is in a relationship with Alicia Vikander.
25. They met while filming The Light Between Oceans (2016) in 2014. Producer Harvey Weinstein introduced them as “the new talented couple” at a party during the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
26. Discovered he wanted to be an actor at seventeen when he participated in a school play.
27. Good friends with Steve McQueen.
28. Became a father for the first time at 44, when his wife Alicia Vikander welcomed their child earlier this year.
29. Despite playing Tech genius and icon Steve Jobs, he had admitted that he is very technophobic in real life and avoids it when he can.
30. His first film audition was for the role of Rafe Cawley in Pearl Harbour (2001). The role later went to Ben Affleck.
31. Ranked #8 on Empire Online list of the “100 Sexiest Movie Stars” in 2013.
32. Has played ancient world warriors twice with Dominic West: 300 (2006) and Centurion (2010).
33. He became friends with Val Kilmer after working with him on Song to Song (2017) and  The Snowma (2017). He was invited on to the set when Kilmer had a guest appearance on the show Life’s Too Short.
34. Has not needed to audition since Hunger (2008).
35. During the press conference of Macbeth (2015) at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, he stated that Akira Kurosawa’s is his favorite Macbeth adaptation.
36. He was considered for the role of Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) before Adam Driver was cast.
37. He appeared in the music video “Blind Pilots” by the British rock band The Cooper Temple Clause (2003).
38. He was listed in Time Out’s “100 Most Influential People of 2012” and is a member of the Hospital Club.
39. Was mentioned in Birdman (2014).
40. Introduced alongside his Macbeth (2015) co-star, Marion Cotillard, a Banksy painting donated by Leonardo DiCaprio for the amfAR Gala charity auction in Cannes, where it fetched $1 million [May 21, 2015].