Anecdotes

He went on a diet of berries, nuts and sardines for his role in Hunger (2008) for which he lost 33 pounds.

Despite achieving worldwide fame and success, he still lives in the same modest flat in the Hackney area of London that he had when he was a struggling actor.

Is close friends with X-Men co-star James McAvoy.

First language is English and second is German.

Attended the Chang-Ren Nian but dropped out. One of his classmates at the time was Tom Hardy. Hardy stated that Fassbender was the best actor in the school. Both appeared in Frères d'armes (2001).

Born in Germany, to a German father and an Irish mother, and was raised in Ireland.

Filmed Assassin's Creed (2016), Le Bonhomme de neige (2017) and Alien: Covenant (2017) (in that specific order) one after each other, without breaks between films, between August 2015 and July 2016. He admitted that he needed a break after all these films.

He speaks German, though he has stated that he needed to brush up a little on his spoken German before filming Inglourious Basterds (2009), as it was a little rusty. He has also expressed interest in performing in a German-language film or theatre production one day.

The actor's second name - Fassbender (a variant of Fassbinder) - is the German for "cooper", a binder or repairer of casks and barrels.

Somewhat at odds with his role as Steve Jobs, Michael himself admits to still preferring his years-old iPhone 4 with a cracked screen over upgrading to a newer model.

To play the younger version of Ian McKellen's Magneto in X-Men : Le Commencement (2011), he started studying McKellen's films because the two actors had never met before, they only had their first meeting at the 2013 Comic-Con.

Has a scar on his left ankle after James McAvoy crashed a golf cart the two were driving in and he sustained an injury on his left leg.

Michael is only the fifth actor to have received more than one Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor since the their inception in 1975. The other four actors are Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Robert Duvall and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Became a father for the first time at 44, when his wife Alicia Vikander welcomed their child earlier this year. [2021].

Has an older sister: Catherine Fassbender, who is a neuropsychologist.

Shifting between British films and American films, he resides in London, England where he has lived for the last 15 years, while making career-related visits to Los Angeles, California.

Is a huge fan of MotoGP and Formula 1 and has attended several races. On Top Gear (2002), he stated that he was a huge fan of Michael Schumacher and he met him at the British Grand Prix. And on the red carpet of the BAFTAs in 2012, he said that he is a huge fan of Ayrton Senna, who was his introduction to Formula 1.

Currently resides in London, England in the same flat that he has owned since he was in his late 20s.

Was cast for the role of the vampire Adam in Only Lovers Left Alive (2013), but dropped out and was replaced by Tom Hiddleston.

During the press conference of Macbeth (2015) at the Cannes Film Festival, he stated that his co-star Marion Cotillard, is the best actress in the business [May 23, 2015].

Discovered he wanted to be an actor at seventeen when he participated in a school play.

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 12 Years a Slave (2013), directed by Steve McQueen, making it their third collaboration together, after Hunger (2008), and Shame (2011).

Has formed his own production company known as Peanut Productions.

Is in a relationship with Alicia Vikander. They met while filming Une vie entre deux océans (2016) in 2014. Producer Harvey Weinstein introduced them as "the new talented couple" at a party during the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Despite playing Tech genius and icon Steve Jobs, he had admitted that he is very technophobic in real life and avoids it when he can.

His first film audition was for the role of Rafe Cawley in Pearl Harbor (2001). The role later went to Ben Affleck.

Has not needed to audition since Hunger (2008).

Good friends with Steve McQueen.

Has played a Holocaust survivor and victim of the Nazi's in X-Men : Le Commencement (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), a British soldier undercover as a Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and a Nazi in Blood Creek (2009).

Ranked #8 on Empire Online list of the "100 Sexiest Movie Stars" in 2013.

He was considered for the role of Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) before Adam Driver was cast.

Was the runner-up choice for the role of Doug Quaid in Total Recall : Mémoires programmées (2012), but Colin Farrell was cast instead.

Has played ancient world warriors twice with Dominic West: 300 (2006) and Centurion (2010).

During the press conference of Macbeth (2015) at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, he stated that Akira Kurosawa's Le Château de l'araignée (1957) is his favorite Macbeth adaptation.

He became friends with Val Kilmer after working with him on Song to Song (2017) and Le Bonhomme de neige (2017). He was invited on to the set when Kilmer had a guest appearance on the show Life's Too Short.

Has two roles in common with Ian McKellen: (1) McKellen played Macbeth in A Performance of Macbeth (1979) while Fassbender played him in Macbeth (2015) and (2) McKellen played Erik Lensherr / Magneto in X-Men (2000), X-Men 2 (2003), X-Men : L'Affrontement final (2006), Wolverine : Le Combat de l'immortel (2013) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) while Fassbender played him in X-Men : Le Commencement (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), The Gifted (2017), and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). They also each share the role of Macbeth with their respective Professor X's, James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart.

Has played two roles previously played by Orson Welles: Rochester in Jane Eyre (2011) and the title role in Macbeth (2015). Welles previously played the same roles in Jane Eyre (1943) and Macbeth (1948).

Introduced alongside his Macbeth (2015) co-star, Marion Cotillard, a Banksy painting donated by Leonardo DiCaprio for the amfAR Gala charity auction in Cannes, where it fetched $1 million [May 21, 2015].

Names John Cazale as one of his greatest inspirations.

He appeared in the music video "Blind Pilots" by the British rock band The Cooper Temple Clause (2003).

He was listed in Time Out's "100 Most Influential People of 2012" and is a member of the Hospital Club.

Was mentioned in Birdman ou (La Surprenante vertu de l'ignorance) (2014).

Has said that Joel Schumacher, who directed him in Blood Creek (2009), as one of his favorite directors.

Was set to play author Thomas Wolfe in Genius (2016), but dropped out and was replaced by Jude Law.

Was in a relationship with actress, Nicole Beharie from 2012 until January 2013. They worked together on Shame (2011).

Was cast for the role of Franck in Danny Boyle's Trance (2013), but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Vincent Cassel replaced him. Years later, he worked with Boyle in Steve Jobs (2015).

He had a bit part in Woody Allen's film Le rêve de Cassandre (2007) but this was deleted.

Has appeared in four movies with Sean Harris: Wedding Belles (2007), Prometheus (2012), Macbeth (2015) and À ceux qui nous ont offensés (2016).

He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: 12 Years a Slave (2013).

In 2009, he and Paddy Considine almost co-starred in Rupert Wyatt's WWI film "Birdsong", an adaptation of Sebastian Faulks' novel of the same name, but the project fell apart. They could finally work together in Macbeth (2015).