Michael Fassbender is officially a Hollywood leading man

Cork actor takes Hollywood by storm but stays close to his Irish origins

“I remember getting into a discussion with some German actors who sort of snootily asked me what writers have you got in Ireland? I answered, ‘Are you serious? James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan – do you want me to go on?’”

Fassbender’s mother comes from Larne, Co. Antrim and his father from Germany. “We moved to Ireland when I was two and we settled in Killarney, Co Kerry. Where we were living in Germany is very industrial and very grey and my parents wanted to have countryside around for my sister and I to grow up in.”

So what would a German and Irish background make of you? Would you want to conquer the world and then write a ballad about the terrible waste of it? I think this but I don’t ask him, because although he has a terrific sense of humor, you never know what will set people off.

Fassbender’s pride in Ireland is something that just emerges naturally in his conversation.

“I have to say the Irish education system is really top notch,” he says reflecting on his days at St. Brendan’s in Killarney. “When I was in primary school in Ireland I learned about the battle of Thermopylae and 300 Spartans when I was six or seven years old. There was a real love of learning language and poetry. and we were taught history and geography. It was very well rounded.”

To my surprise, although I don’t know why this should be, I notice that Fassbender has a clear Killarney accent.  And sitting there listening to him talking about the subjects he took in the leaving certificate, I have to admit he’s as Irish as I am, especially when he’s telling me he thinks mandatory Irish in high school (which he took) is a good thing and it should be continued.

Although Fassbender’s at the Waldorf this week promoting his latest film Jane Eyre (which is possibly the most atmospheric and involving version of the classic tale ever filmed), he admits he hasn’t had a minute to himself because of his filming schedule.

“I haven’t seen it yet!” he laughs. “I’m waiting for the premiere here. But making it was a fantastic experience.

“I just wanted to try and understand all the complexities of the character (the conflicted Mister Rochester). I have to say the Brontes wrote some cracking characters, both female and male. I love the idea of this Byronic hero with a shady past. We see his courage and his self-destructiveness, his intelligence and everything else.

“What I wanted to show is that he really doesn’t like himself. He tries to sabotage things for himself. I thought he was quite bi-polar in fact. One minute he can be happy and by the end of the scene he switches.

“The sins of his past are with him all the time too.  I’m sure he’s visited brothels, and the fact that he leaves his mansion all the time are all things I dealt with.

“And Mia (the film’s co-star Mia Wasikowska) is just f***ing brilliant. We worked on scenes for hours and it would have been impossible to get that level of intensity without her.”

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Nster.com