When Steve McQueen’s Hunger debuted at Cannes in 2008, Michael Fassbender — playing Irish hunger-strike activist Bobby Sands — was a revelation. Now he’s ubiquitous, potentially to the point of overexposure, appearing in comic-book blockbusters ( X-Men: First Class ) and tony literary adaptations ( Jane Eyre ) alike. Yet each performance, and each project, is so different from the last that it’s still a joy to watch him. He has one of the gifts that great actors need, the ability to be focused and unselfconscious at the same time. He knows when to surrender and when to call every muscle and brain cell to attention. I fear someday he’ll win an Oscar and risk losing it all.
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Postcard from Venice: Fassbender Brings Glory to Shame; Pacino Reigns in Wilde Salome
