Happy Birthday, Michael Fassbender! the Birthday Boy's 11 Hottest Roles
Happy 35th birthday, Michael Fassbender! In honor of the occasions, here are your 11 hottest roles. We thank you for them.
-Lucia Peters, BettyConfidential.com
My, but Michael Fassbender has been a busy boy! In between the four major films he released in 2011, he managed to find time to (maybe) get kicked out of his party and make his way onto our list of Hot Irish Actors We'd Like to Share a Drink With. Happily, with films like Prometheuson the horizon, it's looking like 2012 is going to be just as busy for him. And guess what? Today is his 35th birthday! Happy birthday, Michael!
In honor of the occasion, we've rounded up the actor's 11 hottest roles for your viewing (and drooling) pleasure. All together, now: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Michael… happy birthday to you!
1. Burton "Pat" Christenson, Band of Brothers
If you haven't seen the epic ten-part, 11-hour World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, you really owe it to yourself to do so. The narrative centers around the "E" (Easy) Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 101st Airborne Division; as such, it features a large ensemble cast, though Major Richard Winters, played by Damien Lewis, is probably who you'd consider the main character, insofar as there is one. In his very first role, Michael played Sergeant Burton "Pat" Christenson.
2. Azazeal, Hex
British supernatural shows, even when flawed, are always enormous fun, and Hex is no exception. Strange occurrences begin to happen when Cassie (Christina Cole) arrives at the remote English school Medenham Hall-and they get even stranger when she meets Azazeal, who turns out to be the leader of the fallen angels known as the Nephilim. Azazeal, by the way, has a habit of showing up in students' rooms without permission. Naughty, naughty, Michael Fassbender!
3. Random bloke, Guiness ad
Bet you didn't know that Michael Fassbender did a Guiness commercial way back in 2004, did you? He stars as a man who swims from Ireland aaaaaaall the way across the ocean to the US, just to tell his brother… well, I'll let you see for yourselves, because it's delightful. Watch it here !
4. Stelios, 300
Let's face it, there are really only two reasons to watch 300: The fight sequences, and the mostly-naked men. Don't get me wrong, I love the original comic; but there's really only so much you can expect from a Zach Snyder film. Anyway, Michael made an appearance as the hot-headed yet highly skilled Spartan warrior, Stelios. Yum.
5. Lt. Archie Hicox, Inglorious Basterds
Michael may have been somewhat ill-fated as the undercover British officer Lt. Archie Hicox inQuentin Tarantino's World War II film, but he's still great fun to watch. Fun fact: Michael does speak conversational German (his father is German and he was born in what was once West Germany), but he had to brush up on it a little for Inglorious Basterds, as he was feeling a little rusty. Michael also seems to have a fondness for Tarantino; he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a stage version of Reservoir Dogs back in 1995 (he played Mr. Pink).
6. Edward Rochester, Jane Eyre
I'll be honest: Jane Eyre has never really done it for me. When it comes to Victorian literature, I prefer Dickens to the Brontes; at least good ol' Charles had a sense of humor, which can't really be said for Charlotte, Emily, or Anne. That said, though, the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre is magnificent. Mia Wasikowska turns in a beautiful performance as Jane, and Michael Fassbender finally made me understand how so many generations of readers could fall in love with Mr. Rochester. Even if he does store his not-quite-ex-wife in his attic.
7. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, X-Men: First Class
Maybe it's just because bad boys are inexplicable attractive, but this is the role that made me sit up and go, "Whoa. Michael Fassbender is HOT." Back in his pre-Ian McKellen days, Magneto sure was a looker, wasn't he?
8. Carl Jung, A Dangerous Method
Of the four major films Michael put out in 2011, A Dangerous Method was perhaps the most overlooked, but it's definitely worth a viewing. The film focused on the turbulent relationships between Carl Jung (played by Michael), Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), and patient-turned-psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). They're all great; I've always found Jung a little more interesting than Freud, though, so perhaps I'm a little biased in Michael's favor.
9. Brandon Sullivan, Shame
Yes, sex addiction is an actual, real-life problem, and no, Shame doesn't glamorize or glorify it. But in the words of Charlize Theron, there was definitely a "revelation" going on here. If you know what I mean.
10. Himself, Top Gear
As one week's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car on the UK auto show Top Gear, Michael got the chance to try to set the fastest lap time of the Top Gear test track in a low-spec family hatchback back in February. Right now, he's third on the celebrity leaderboard, beaten only by Matt LeBlanc and Rowan Atkinson (really? Michael Fassbender got beaten by MR. BEAN?). But don't take my word for it; go on and watch the segment yourselves !
11. David, Prometheus
Did you somehow miss the Prometheus trailer when it debuted a few weeks ago? If you did, here you go . The film follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus (which, by the way, consists of Noomi Rapace, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron ) as they head out into space to find the origins of humanity. Like all good sci-fi, it's likely going to examine a lot of fabulous philosophical issues about what humanity is, and we can be certain that Michael's character David will feature prominently in this examination: David, you see, is an android designed to be indistinguishable from humans who then begins to develop his own ego, insecurities, jealousy, and envy. Tricky, tricky!
Happy birthday, Michael! We can't wait to see what else the future has in store for you!
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