In-demand Michael Fassbender has been shooting actioner “Assassins Creed” with his “Macbeth” director Justin Kurzel in the UK; as part of a whip-sawing intercontinental schedule, he flew into Los Angeles to campaign for Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs” via the Palm Springs Film Festival and Academy parties and interviews last weekend, before returning for a week of filming before flying back again for the Golden Globes January 10th.
When he wraps “Assassin’s Creed” he will fly to Norway mid-month to take on the lead role of crime squad lead detective Harry Hole in the Tomas Alfredson adaptation (Working Title/Universal, October 13, 2017) of the Jo Nesbo international bestseller “The Snowman.” Hole starts to investigate a missing person and possible serial killer victim on the first snow of winter, with support from a new recruit (Rebecca Ferguson); they need to connect the dots on cold serial killer cases before the next snowfall. After that Fassbender is slated to reprise the “Prometheus” role of robot David in Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant.”
In the can for 2016 are indie drama “Trespass Against Us,” Derek Cianfrance’s “The Light Between Oceans,” opposite Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz (Disney/DreamWorks/Participant), a return to Magneto in Bryan Singer’s “X-Men: Apocalypse” (Fox), and a long-in-the-works movie for Terrence Malick (Broad Green).
As well as Fassbender is doing, he was never more anxious about a role than taking on the Apple co-founder in Aaron Sorkin’s dense, Shakespearean three-act bio-drama, which he wasn’t sure he was going to get despite Boyle’s steadfast belief in him, as the Sony hack revealed all the machinations behind the scenes as the movie passed from Sony to Universal. (He watched co-star Seth Rogen deal with the fallout from “The Interview” while they were filming.) Fassbender devoted himself 24/7 to absorbing Sorkin’s massive pages of dialogue, never checking a script or sides on set. He relied for support on Kate Winslet, who would run lines with him in one of their trailers. He is still grateful to her: one weekend she even booked him a hotel in Big Sur for him to recharge.
WATCH: How Kate Winslet Warms Up Steve Jobs
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