Michael Fassbender Read Online Free Page B

called Fairytales Fairytales 123 – an amalgamation of Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Cinderella . He played one of Cinderella’s ugly sisters!
    Initially, he wanted to get into comedy movies. He loved the film Fletch , starring Chevy Chase as an investigative reporter, and had watched it so many times that he practically knew the script by heart. But his thoughts turned towards drama and, although he enjoyed theatre, it was the world of movies that enchanted him.
    ‘Aside from his looks, he was very talented,’ Courtney recalled. ‘He had charisma and this drive to succeed. You could see he had huge talent.’
    For the first time Michael had a focus on what he really wanted to do with his life and he became a driven man. ‘Once I realised perhaps I could be quite good I committed to it a hundred per cent. It was my one and only priority.’
    Avidly he studied his favourite actors in his favourite movies – Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino et al., wanting to get to the level they had achieved. He also ploughed through their biographies but it didn’t always make for encouraging reading. ‘When I read that Pacino and De Niro were nearly thirty years old when they broke through, I remember thinking, “Jesus, will it take that long?”’ he recalled.
    Quentin Tarantino’s stylish gangster movie Reservoir Dogs made a big impact on Michael and his school pals. One afternoon they were re-enacting the chilling scene at the warehouse – in which Mr Blonde cuts off the ear of a policeman to the tune of Stuck in the Middle With You – when Michael turned to his friend Marco and said that they should do a stage version of it.
    Showing the boldness and confidence of youth, Michael left the Bricriu after less than a year to set up his own production company with his friends. They put on a play version of Reservoir Dogs at local nightclub, Ravels, in Killarney for two nights, with Michael producing and directing. He also played the part of Mr Pink, made famous by Steve Buscemi in the film. ‘I guess that was the advantage of doing it myself – I got to cast myself in the best part,’ he said. ‘Mr Pink always appealed to me because he was a survivor, an almost rat-like character – he would survive any sort of outcome. I just thought it was an interesting character to explore. I approached him more like [Robert De Niro’s] Johnny Boy in Mean Streets than the Buscemi characterisation. Like a loose cannon.
    ‘It went down really well. We had 114 people for the first night, then 140. We packed out the club.’ Michael wanted to hand over the door money to a charitable organisation but whenever he mentioned Reservoir Dogs he found people backing away, concerned about any association with a film notorious for its violence. In the end he gave the proceeds to some people trying to raisemoney for a little girl whose sight was impaired and needed an eye operation.
    Putting on the production proved to be a wonderful learning experience about the various aspects of performance – acting, producing, directing and publicity. And it gave Michael confidence for the future. ‘I was totally naïve but I learned so much,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know what the hell I was doing but I knew that with hard work and enthusiasm, things get done.’
    Talking about the production on Radio Kerry he was asked how on earth he had managed to get the rights to put on Reservoir Dogs . A nervous Michael just grinned and replied, ‘Don’t mention that!’
    When Michael told his parents that he wanted to act for a living they cautioned him to get a degree first but he insisted that he had to go for it straight away. He was supported by his grandmother, who also felt he should go for it. Not used to such clarity and forcefulness from their dreamer of a son, Josef and Adele eventually let him have his way.
    After leaving St Brendan’s, Michael worked in his parents’ restaurant during the day and acted at night.