- Title: Fassbender reveals 'daunting' task of taking on 'Macbeth'
- Date: 30th November 2015
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - NOVEMBER 8, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR MICHAEL FASSBENDER, SAYING: "Yeah you know, it's definitely daunting because the work is so excellent, you feel a responsibility to it and you don't want to make a shambles of it, so yeah it's daunting."
- Embargoed: 15th December 2015 12:27
- Keywords: Michael Fassbender Macbeth film Shakespeare Marion Cotillard
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / UNIDENTIFIED FILM LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / UNIDENTIFIED FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0043BLVEJ1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Actor Michael Fassbender revealed the "daunting" task of taking on the role of Macbeth for the latest big-screen adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, while admitting that he sought advice from his 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' co-star James McAvoy, who has played the part on stage.
Fassbender co-stars in director Justin Kurzel's ('The Snowtown Murders') adaptation of the classic 'Scottish Play' with French actress Marion Cotillard ('Two Days, One Night, Rust and Bone') as Lady Macbeth. In the film, Fassbender plays a Scottish general suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, whose ambitious wife urges him to commit murder in order to gain power of the throne.
It is reportedly the German-Irish actor's first big-screen Shakespearean role.
Speaking to Reuters television, Fassbender described the challenges that came with playing a character in one of William Shakespeare's most famous works.
"There's just so many endless versions you can do, and various interpretations of it, which is very encouraging and also kind of depressing because I would walk away thinking, 'God, you know there's another thousand ways that that could have been done.' But just really becoming comfortable with it, you know it's not one of those texts where you can sort of go in, look at it the morning before and sort of wing it, it's definitely something that I just spent many hours at home practising, you know, and getting comfortable with it," he said.
"It's definitely daunting because the work is so excellent, you feel a responsibility to it and you don't want to make a shambles of it, so yeah it's daunting."
Fassbender, who stars alongside James McAvoy in 'X-Men: Days of Future Past', admitted that he spoke to his co-star while preparing for the role, as McAvoy has played Macbeth on stage previously.
"James (McAvoy) and I had a few conversations about it and he actually gave me a miniature Macbeth sort of book thing, which was quite cute, and yeah so you know we just sort of discussed various things about the relationship, what we felt it was about, and yeah it was fun conversations and things that I did remember when I was prepping it," he said.
Fassbender co-stars with French actress Marion Cotillard in the movie, whom he said was "very enjoyable" to work with. Cotillard tackled the role of Lady Macbeth, whose lines are in Shakespearean English, despite English not being her first language.
"She (Marion Cotillard) just works very hard, and she's somebody that is very responsive as an actor, and definitely acts in a way that is very moment to moment, I don't feel that she comes with preconceived... I mean everyone has an idea of how to approach a scene but she allows herself to be very awake, and responsive, and so you can throw something at her and she will sort of digest it, take it on board and then come back with something for you to sort of play with."
The film, which was partly shot on Scotland's Isle of Skye, shows stark, rainy and cold winter landscapes and grisly, muddy battle scenes. Fassbender said that the weather conditions during shooting were "extreme", joking that they only lost "two or three" cast members in the process.
"We had amazing extras in the film, which just... I thought after the first day 'Oh my God nobody's going to turn up tomorrow' because the weather conditions were so extreme, but their spirit was amazing, I think over the whole shoot we lost maybe two or three, so it was just a real great feeling of camaraderie when you're sort of up against it like that, everyone bandies together and you get a real sense of sort of achievement," he said.
"You know the landscape is almost a central character in itself, this is the sort of land where you can imagine the witches are coming from the ground up, and I can definitely understand the mysticism of Scotland, and where their myths and tales come from, just by the sort of you know, overwhelmingness of that landscape. It's a very special place, Skye, and I'd recommend anybody to go there."
The film premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for several categories in the British Independent Film Awards.
'Macbeth' is released in US cinemas on December 4. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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