I cherish my anonymity, says Fassbender
HE'S the Irish A-lister who's been tipped to earn two Oscar nominations next year.
But Michael Fassbender says he's delighted he can still go out in public and not be recognised.
The Kerry-born actor said that despite his new-found fame, he is still able to go about his daily business without being mobbed by fans.
He said: “I can walk down the street. I'm not Brad Pitt or George Clooney and I'd like to keep it that way.”
The 36-year-old has become one of Hollywood's leading male stars over the past year and is in the running for two Oscar nods for his latest roles in the movies The Counsellor and 12 Years A Slave.
But the star admits that he is rarely happy with his performances and is his own worst critic.
He said: “The worst feeling in the world for an actor is to leave the day's work, get in your car and go: ‘Oh, I should have done that. You're halfway home at a red light and go, ‘Damn, why didn't I play it that way?’”
Fassbender also admitted he faced one of his toughest tests in the filming of The Counsellor, when he had to perform a love scene with actress Penelope Cruz — as her real-life partner and costar Javier Bardem was watching them.
He said: “It's awkward to do love scenes — especially since Javier was sitting at the end of the bed. You just want to make sure that everyone is comfortable and safe.”
However, the IFTA-winning actor has said that a major perk of his new-found fame is his much-improved success with the ladies.
He said recently: “I make a lot more friends, you know what I mean? You become a lot more successful in terms of, like, talking to a girl.
“She's all of a sudden interested in me. I know that, like, three years ago she would have walked away after two sentences left my mouth.
“I remember I was sitting at this table at this thing, and I was talking to this girl. I was like, ‘God, I am so boring right now'. But she was like, ‘That's so interesting!' I was like, ‘You know what?' Five years ago, this would not have been interesting.”