By Zach Seemayer
12:37 AM PDT, April 2, 2014
Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender turns 37 on April 2, and in honor of his impressive film career developed over less than a decade, ET presents Fassbender's five highest-rated films, based on their Rotten Tomatoes score.
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What's Your Favorite?
Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender turns 37 on April 2, and in honor of his impressive film career developed over less than a decade, ET presents Fassbender's five highest-rated films, based on their Rotten Tomatoes score.
#5. 'X-Men: First Class'
Year: 2011
Rating: 87%
In X-Men: First Class, Michael Fassbender plays Erik Lehnsherr, the mutant better known as Magneto. First Class gives us a glimpse of what turned Magneto into the rage-filled villain he later becomes, and explores the important and emotionally charged relationship between the metal-bending maniac and his former friend, Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).
Rating: 87%
In X-Men: First Class, Michael Fassbender plays Erik Lehnsherr, the mutant better known as Magneto. First Class gives us a glimpse of what turned Magneto into the rage-filled villain he later becomes, and explores the important and emotionally charged relationship between the metal-bending maniac and his former friend, Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).
#4. 'Inglourious Basterds'
Year: 2009
Rating: 89%
Fassbender's role in Inglourious Basterds is a comparatively small one, but it was his flashy style and uniquely outstanding performance that really put Fassbender on the American radar. In the World War II action drama, Fassbender plays English soldier Lt. Archie Hicox, who is sent in undercover as a Nazi to meet a German double agent (Diane Kruger). His role is short and sweet, as things inevitably go downhill quickly, in one of the most celebrated scenes of director Quentin Tarantino's career.
Rating: 89%
Fassbender's role in Inglourious Basterds is a comparatively small one, but it was his flashy style and uniquely outstanding performance that really put Fassbender on the American radar. In the World War II action drama, Fassbender plays English soldier Lt. Archie Hicox, who is sent in undercover as a Nazi to meet a German double agent (Diane Kruger). His role is short and sweet, as things inevitably go downhill quickly, in one of the most celebrated scenes of director Quentin Tarantino's career.
#3. 'Fish Tank'
Year: 2009
Rating: 90%
Fish Tank follows the life of a socially distant and emotionally volatile 15-year-old girl named Mia who lives with, but doesn't get along with, her mother and younger sister. Her life is changed when the mother begins dating Fassbender's character Conner. At first, Conner tries to prove himself to be a good stepfather, but ends up being a sorely negative influence on Mia's life. Fassbender is able to infuse an empathetic compassion into an unlikable character in a way that not many actors could manage.
Rating: 90%
Fish Tank follows the life of a socially distant and emotionally volatile 15-year-old girl named Mia who lives with, but doesn't get along with, her mother and younger sister. Her life is changed when the mother begins dating Fassbender's character Conner. At first, Conner tries to prove himself to be a good stepfather, but ends up being a sorely negative influence on Mia's life. Fassbender is able to infuse an empathetic compassion into an unlikable character in a way that not many actors could manage.
#2. 'Hunger'
Year: 2008
Rating: 90%
In Hunger, Fassbender stars as the real-life prisoner and member of the Irish Republican Army, Bobby Sands, who goes on a hunger strike to protest the unfathomably terrible conditions inside Maze Prison in the early 1980s. To portray the starving Sands, Fassbender restricted himself to just a few hundred calories a day, and lost 30 pounds. The film is an unflinchingly powerful look at Sand's protest, and was the first collaboration between Fassbender and director Steve McQueen, who would later go on to make several amazing films including the top entry on this list…
Rating: 90%
In Hunger, Fassbender stars as the real-life prisoner and member of the Irish Republican Army, Bobby Sands, who goes on a hunger strike to protest the unfathomably terrible conditions inside Maze Prison in the early 1980s. To portray the starving Sands, Fassbender restricted himself to just a few hundred calories a day, and lost 30 pounds. The film is an unflinchingly powerful look at Sand's protest, and was the first collaboration between Fassbender and director Steve McQueen, who would later go on to make several amazing films including the top entry on this list…
#1. '12 Years a Slave'
Year: 2013
Rating: 97%
McQueen and Fassbender teamed up again last year for a third time (after Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011) to create another powerful and emotionally jarring bio pic set in the 1840s. The film focuses on Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free African American who is kidnapped by slavers and sold into slavery. He eventually comes to the plantation belonging to the violent and sadistic Edwin Epps, played by Fassbender. The movie is based on Northup's autobiography, and Fassbender's portrayal of the monstrous Epps earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor earlier this year.
Rating: 97%
McQueen and Fassbender teamed up again last year for a third time (after Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011) to create another powerful and emotionally jarring bio pic set in the 1840s. The film focuses on Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free African American who is kidnapped by slavers and sold into slavery. He eventually comes to the plantation belonging to the violent and sadistic Edwin Epps, played by Fassbender. The movie is based on Northup's autobiography, and Fassbender's portrayal of the monstrous Epps earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor earlier this year.