Fassbender tracks serial killer in ‘Snowman’
“Well, it’s ‘ Who-luh,’ but I call him ‘Hole,’ ” says Michael Fassbender, giving the correct pronunciation for the name of his latest screen character, troubled Norwegian detective Harry Hole.
“The Snowman” is the first moviemade fromJo Nesbø’s popular series of thrillers about Oslo’s premier — and probablymost screwed-up — police inspector.
Huge best- sellers in not just Scandinavia but throughout Europe and the rest of the world, Nesbø’s 11 Hole novels (“Snowman,” the seventh, came out 10 years ago) and other books are becoming as emblematic of Nordic noir as neighboring Sweden’s “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” novels.
Directed by Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), the English-language “Snowman” teams a hung over Hole with a new cop from farther north, Katrine Bratt (Swedish-English actress Rebecca Ferguson), in their pursuit of Norway’s first serial killer.
You could say that Hole is dogged in his investigation. But the way Fassbender plays him is passive almost to the point of paralyzed in manner. Viewers may wonder whether he’s on the job or just lost in some privatemisery.
“Harry’s very dysfunctional,” says the Irish star of many an XMen entry, as well as more ambitious pictures such as “Steve Jobs” and “12 Years a Slave.” “I basically just worked off the books. I saw a man who’s got an intelligence to him, but I think he’s somebody whose mind is always on overdrive, so he drinks to shut it down.
“He’s brilliant … but doesn’t necessarily like his job,” the actor continues. “Some of the other officers he doesn’t really respect that much. … He’s in love but doesn’t know how to facilitate that love. He’s a man that knows himself very well, so he’s his own man. Harry’s somebody who doesn’t necessarily like people thatmuch. Inthe books… he’s got one friend.”
It must have been difficult, then, to act so dour opposite Ferguson, the “Mission: Impossible — RogueNation” actress, whohas an outgoing and fun-loving per-
sonality. But Fassbender (who in real life married Swedish actress Alicia Vikander last weekend) says there was no problem switching emotional gears with Ferguson between takes.
“It was the same when we were doing ‘ 12 Years a Slave.’ (Co- star) Lupita (Nyong’o) and I would have a joke, laugh about something, and then go into these intense scenes,” he says of the Oscar-winning film, in which Fassbender and Nyong’o played out a tortured master- slave relationship. “Rebecca’s very effusive and bubbly, and then — boom! — into what she’s doing.”
While acknowledging that “The Snowman” movie diverges from the book in significant ways, Fassbender says he hopes there will be more opportunities to play the Nesbø detective.
“I really enjoyed playing the character and have a lot of affection toward him,” he says. “The more I read the books, the more I wanted to do those stories. I think he’s got a sense of humor, too; we didn’t maybe get to see so much of that in this film, but (it’s) in the books for sure.”