Michael Fassbender on 300 Role: "I Just Enjoyed Getting in Shape and Getting Paid"

Michael Fassbender is known to many for playing Magento in various X-Men films and appearing in some other big movies such as Inglourious Basterds, Prometheus, 12 Years a Slave, and Steve Jobs. However, some fans may have forgotten that the two-time Academy Award nominee played Stelios in Zack Snyder's 300 back in 2006. The film marked Fassbender's first big role in a feature film, and he recently reflected on the experience while doing an interview with Vanity Fair. 

"For 300, I think we trained for ten weeks before we stepped in front of a camera," Fassbender shared. "And because the film is so physical, I think I have maybe four lines in the movie maybe. So it's very much physically-based character performance. And so to get in shape was key. But yeah, I just enjoyed the fact that I was, you know, getting in shape and getting paid."

What Is The Killer About?

You can currently catch Fassbender in The Killer, the newest film from director David Fincher. You can read a description of The Killer here: "After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal." The Killer "tells the story of an assassin that begins to develop a conscience and doubts his work, which happens at a time when clients demand his particular set of skills." 

The Killer stars Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, leading a cast that includes Kerry O'Malley as Dolores, Charles Parnell (Top Gun: Maverick) as Hodges, Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket), and Brazilian star Sophie Charlotte. Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt (Mindhunter) is re-teaming with Fincher for the film, while his musical collaborators Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mank) will compose the score. Fincher's Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker penned the script, which is based on the French graphic novel by Alexis Nolent.

"This is the type of film I was salivating to do," Fassbender shared with Empire. "There's suspense and intrigue. A slow drip. I love that kind of movie." He added, "There's just trying to understand the mind of a sociopath ... I try and put together a lifespan, to where the character is now."

The Killer is now streaming on Netflix.

Would you like to see Fassbender in another Snyder movie? Tell us in the comments!