Michael Fassbender Biography

Michael Fassbender cemented his place as a daring leading man of the big screen with a slate of 2011 films that included Jane Eyre (with Mia Wasikowska), X-Men: First Class (as young Magneto) and Shame (with Carey Mulligan). Born in Germany but raised in Ireland, he got his first big break in the Steven Spielberg mini-series Band of Brothers (2001), but stardom didn't come right away. Fassbender then played IRA martyr Bobby Sands in the 2008 drama Hunger and got critical raves and more opportunities. He had small but significant roles in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds (2009) and the thriller Jonah Hex (2010), then appeared in five feature films in 2011. Square-jawed and steely-eyed, Fassbender has also appeared in 300 (2006), Eden Lake (2008) and, as Carl Jung, in A Dangerous Method (2011, with Viggo Mortensen).