Fassbender’s biggest fear was a slip of the whip

MICHAEL FASSBENDER has revealed he was afraid of going too far while in character as a sadistic slave owner during filming for 12 Years A Slave and actually hitting co-star Lupita N’Yongo.

In a tough scene, Fassbender had to whip N’Yongo’s character over and over again and the actor said he thought he was going to really hurt her.

‘I’ve only seen 12 Years A Slave once,’ he said. ‘I usually only watch anything I’ve done twice, maximum. It was really difficult watching the whipping scene – probably more difficult watching it than filming it.

‘So I know I have to get to a certain mark, and if I go beyond that mark I’m in danger of hitting Lupita,’ he told Hot Press magazine.

It seems that shaking off the dark characters he has taken on for films is a recurring problem.

The Kerry Casanova, who was recently linked to Naomi Campbell, also said that his role as a sex addict in Shame, his previous collaboration with director Steve McQueen, had been particularly difficult for him.

‘There’s always going to be some residue that comes back with you from a film, he said. ‘It’d be best to ask the people around me, but I’m probably grumpier than usual, in a slightly darker head space. Shame was probably the worst: that character took a while to shake off.’

His father, Josef, who was also interviewed for the Hot Press article, agreed: ‘Shame was the worst. That took a lot out of you.’

And to think we thought playing an emaciated Bobby Sands slowly dying during the hunger strikes might have been the more difficult ordeal.