Fassbender takes on multiple roles in Assassin’s Creed

SYDNEY — Michael Fassbender wears several hats — co-producer, co-writer and lead star — in his newest film Assassin’s Creed.

Wearing jeans and a grey sweater, and looking a little flushed from some windsurfing a day before, the moment he sat for a roundtable with The STAR and two other journalists from Singapore, Fassbender seemingly carried part of the intensity he showed in Assassin’s Creed, which we previewed the night before.

In the big-screen adaptation of the widely-popular video game of the same name, the Irish-German actor plays the dual role of Callum Lynch, a convict on death row and Aguilar de Nerha, a member of a 15th-century secret society of Spanish assassins.

As Callum, Fassbender is spared from his execution when he gets subjected to a groundbreaking technology that unlocks the memories of Aguilar (who turns out to be his ancestor) through his DNA. Consequently, he finds himself in the center of a long-drawn war between two powerful sects — the Assassins and the Templars — spanning from the ancient times to the present day.

Based on the blockbuster video game franchise from Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed also stars Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard as Sophia Rikkin, the brains behind the technology harnessed by Abstergo Industries, which is run by her own father Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons). The latter also happens to belong to the powers-that-be of the modern incarnation of the Templar Order.

Assassin’s Creed is directed by the Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel, who first worked with Fassbender and Cotillard in the 2015 movie Macbeth.

Fassbender had a big year in 2016 with three other film projects, namely, Trespass Against Us, The Light Between Oceans (where he met his present girlfriend and Hollywood It Girl Alicia Vikander) and as Magneto again in X-Men: Apocalypse. He also received his first Oscar Best Actor nomination for his titular portrayal in Steve Jobs.

Here are excerpts from our 15-minute chat with Fassbender late November in the year that was in Sydney. The 39-year-old Hollywood star revealed that he’s planning to take it easy, acting-wise, this 2017 and pursue other aspects of filmmaking, among other things.

On why he took on Assassin’s Creed:

I’m always looking for materials, for new stories to tell, especially having started my own production company, DMC Films. We are always looking for stories, whether in television format or for cinema or theater.

I was working with a man named Eli Richbourg who’s no longer with us, may he rest in peace, and we were working on something else, it was a film we were writing together and he told me he was producing with these guys from Ubisoft and they wanted to make a film of this video game Assassin’s Creed and so I met them for lunch. I really didn’t know anything about this game. They started to explain to me the e-facts of the game, and the universe of Assassin’s Creed.

I found it to be fascinating. Immediately, I was totally intrigued, hooked on this idea of DNA memory. I thought, it was a very plausible, scientific theory. We carry the experience and knowledge of our ancestors in our genetic structure, our DNA. Some people call it sixth sense or an instinct. I thought, wow, that makes sense! That anchors this fantasy world, something very real and as I said, something scientifically plausible. That’s already a good start when you’re doing something that’s so heightened.

And then the idea of Templars and Assassins — these Templars being this elite group of people that believe in the evolution of mankind through science and through order, and that some people are of a higher worth than others, so that people deserved to be enslaved in fact. And you have the opposition to that which is the Assassins, who believe there should be free will for all of men and that they will do anything to protect that. So I thought, okay, cool, this is the universe where obviously the moral dynamics will get very blurred. And it’s not a very clear thing like these are the good guys and these are the bad guys, which you have in Star Wars and a lot of these sort of stories that are easy for audience to pitch their flag in either of this camp or that camp. This has a lot of ambiguity and I thought it would be fun to play with.

I developed the script. There was no script when I came onboard. I came onboard from the beginning with Ubisoft. Then we came as partners with my production company, DMC, then Regency came onboard and then we had to find writers and start working on the script.

On the complexity of playing dual roles and the challenge of learning new fight skills for the movie:

Not really (emotionally complex). We started off with the Aguilar scenes in Malta, that was all physical stuff. The regressions (you’ll see in the film) were going to be our main action sequences. We knew that. I knew I had to be fit. I had to be prepared in terms of learning the fight choreography, and learning as much as I could of parkour at this stage in my life (laughs) and just really focusing on that.

I tried to learn (it) as much as I could. I think I could jump relatively well and land relatively well, and that’s sort of the basics to it. I didn’t do the Leap of Faith (Note: One of the film’s biggest moments which was executed by a real-life stuntman). But in terms of whatever I could, I did basic things like running up a wall, jumping from one wall to the next.

So Aguilar came first, I could deal with him. There was an element of learning Spanish as well. Luckily, Aguilar doesn’t speak a lot. We wanted to have this sort of feeling of a Western in the regression (scenes) as well, this sort of heroes that don’t say a lot, who understand each other through their movements and they’re on the same wavelength, so this great relationship between Aguilar and Maria (played by Ariane Labed) developed.

Callum is sort of the psychological part of the story — what does it mean to be an Assassin? What does it mean to be a Templar? What camp does he come from? Now, Callum is somebody who is really quite a selfish character because he’s had to take care of himself from a very young age, so he doesn’t trust that many people and doesn’t allow people into his world very easily. He’s had to look after his life and whatever he got in life he achieved by himself. So, there’s this journey that he had to undertake, but he did realize that he belongs to something greater than himself, this brotherhood, he has a lineage to it, that in the end, hopefully, he’ll take on the mantle that was bestowed on him.

On being the producer, co-writer and lead actor rolled into one for the film:

It’s just a lot more work. A lot more work hours, working with writers so that the story is in the right place, the casting as well. Just do the regular everyday filming, making sure that on the day we’re free and loose enough to throw one plan out of the window if it’s not working, just all-around involvement. I just met the (people) from Ubisoft five years ago, we didn’t have a script, and here we are now, after editing the film, making the film, shooting it, writing it, casting it. It’s just a lot more immersive.

(Why I got into producing?) I just like to tell stories and acting is only one element of that. I’ve always been interested in the whole process and getting good stories out there and working with new writers, new actors, new directors, new talents as well as established ones. Just hopefully, creating quality, that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. (Directing?) Hopefully, I’d like to. We’ll see what happens.

Am I having fun? I’m not sure, hahaha! Yes (this is the second time I produced a film). But the first one was a lot different, just $2M, very low budget. That also has its challenges. But Assassin’s Creed obviously is a much bigger venture and I learned a lot. It was a real baptism of fire and I got to know more for the next time.

On experiencing difficulty when he was starting out and feeling very “privileged” to be a Hollywood actor:

I think, you know, it’s a competitive industry. The fact that you get work as an actor is an absolute lottery, and so yeah, it’s not an easy profession. It’s a profession where you rely on other people to give you a chance and believe in you and help you and allow you to get into certain rooms, and it’s up to you whether or not you take up the reins and give it everything you can.

You know, it was difficult but then again, I was one of the lucky ones, I feel like I’m in a very good place. Perhaps, the recognition came kinda late for me, when I was 30, when Hunger came out (in 2008, directed by Steve McQueen), people began to sit up and became curious on who I was. I spent many years doing other jobs and so I was very appreciative when the work came. I knew how much of a privilege it was, and how much of a rarity it was that when the work came my way, I didn’t take it for granted.

On how he sums up his 2016 and what he looks forward to in 2017:

I think it’s a year of great loss. We’ve lost so many great people this year (2016). There’s a lot of change happening in the world now. So, to talk about myself now would seem quite trivial.

(But) it’s been a good year for me. Like what I’ve always been saying, I’m in a super-privileged position. It was a pretty stressful year, obviously, Assassin’s was last year (2015) and going into the beginning of this year (2016) and was such a big project for me for so many years. You know, pretty intense in terms of stress levels, in terms of work, but outside of me, it’s just been a huge year where we lost so many great people and obviously, there’s a lot of change in the world as well (so) there are elements of concern, perhaps.

I’m definitely going to take some time off in (2017) and when I say that, (it means taking a break) from acting a little bit. But I will be continuing to develop stuff on the DMC slate — so just work with writers in the various projects we have in the pre-production and see what I can do to help.

(From 20th Century Fox, Assassin’s Creed opens today in Philippine cinemas.)