- 22 hours ago
The star has teamed up with long-time collaborator Katherine Waterston for the second season of spy thriller, The Agency, on Paramount+. Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Bop, bop, bop.
00:01Mickey Fassbender.
00:02He's like ruining the take.
00:04Peeing in the corner.
00:05I just carry the scene for us.
00:12If they tell you I'm a traitor, it's the truth.
00:18I betrayed my country.
00:20Did I cause harm?
00:22Yes.
00:25Guys, great to see you.
00:26Great to see you.
00:27Congratulations on season two.
00:29Let me get my intrusive thought out of the way first.
00:30Does anyone call you Mikey?
00:33Because I kept thinking about this.
00:34Whether people call you Mikey or Mick or Mike.
00:37Because Michael Fassbender is such a strong Hollywood leading man name.
00:42It's huge in one, doesn't it?
00:42Would we feel the same if he was Mikey Fassbender?
00:45If you changed your name tomorrow, would we accept you as leading the agency season two?
00:49Or would you be kind of pushed into, I don't know, wrong?
00:54One would hope that my reputation would speak for itself on that one.
00:57It's true that dramatic actors usually go by, they don't go by nicknames.
01:01I don't necessarily like Mikey, but my old boss, when I worked behind the bar, who I still stay in
01:07contact with, he calls me that actually.
01:09And I accept it.
01:10And I think it's, you know, a sign of endearment.
01:13Yeah.
01:14I think it made me think that because, you know, what you...
01:17But Mickey, Mickey Rourke, I think it all depends on the second name, right?
01:21Ba, ba, ba.
01:22Mickey Fassbender.
01:23There's also what we project on you.
01:25Mickey Fassbender?
01:26I guess.
01:26It doesn't sound so good.
01:26Sorry?
01:27Like a lot of musicians, they sometimes change, you know, artist woman only prints and things like that and you
01:30kind of accept it.
01:31But in an actor, because I think maybe when I was watching this, I was thinking about, like, how much
01:37of ourselves is kind of what we project and show to the world?
01:41And how much is what other people are willing to kind of take?
01:44They want to be led.
01:46They want to be charmed.
01:47They want to be...
01:48I think for me, whenever I do something on screen, I like to think that it's a try to achieve
01:54somewhat of a mirror.
01:56So if you're watching, there's something that you recognize in yourself, even if it's somebody who is despicable, you know?
02:02Yeah.
02:03And that's always the sort of goal.
02:05Guys, we're back for season two.
02:07Fourth time working together now, I guess, after season one.
02:09Well, if you count season one and season two is...
02:12I guess, because it's still a long period of time, like I said.
02:15Fourth time working with Michael.
02:17Fourth time working together.
02:17Michael, I've beaten David Suchet.
02:19You've beaten David Suchet.
02:20There you go in your face, David Suchet.
02:24So you guys are in a good position.
02:25I guess there's...
02:26When you're working together so much, there's that, like, comfort of, you know, what to expect.
02:30You know, you're going to be, like, supported in a certain way.
02:32But you guys are in a unique situation to say what...
02:34What is, like, the best thing about each other's acting face-to-face?
02:40Not just what we see on screen, but, like, when you're working together, like, the excitement you must feel,
02:46or all the comfort, or the security you must feel, like, working with each other.
02:50If you want to glaze one another.
02:53I mean, so many things are coming to mind.
02:54I think it's all those things, right?
02:55So it's like you come to work and you're like, well, you know, this is going to be easy.
03:01I mean, obviously, you know, you've got to figure all the things out.
03:03But you know that you're going to have somebody opposite you that's going to be giving you things, responding to
03:09things.
03:10You know, all those things that you're looking for.
03:12But I've got to say, as well as that, you know, I'm watching the different cuts and then watching the
03:17episodes coming together.
03:18And when I watch what Catherine's doing on screen, I'm like, whoa, okay, that character that started in season one
03:25has now evolved into this character in season two.
03:28I was like, all those little quirky details.
03:31You know, the specificity.
03:34Specificity.
03:35Specificity.
03:36I'm going to say it again.
03:37Specificity.
03:38You know, the detail that she puts into it is like, it's like, wow, it's like, that's really great.
03:44It's such an unusual character she's brought.
03:46It's so real.
03:47I believe that person exists.
03:50And that's like the stuff that you see happening live in front of you is one thing.
03:55And, you know, we've worked together, you know, as you said a couple of times before, so I know there's
03:59going to be a quality there.
04:01But then when I see it later on screen, I'm like, wow, okay, I didn't see that and I didn't
04:05see this.
04:06It's really, you know, that's the best that you can hope for when, you know, when you're working with somebody
04:11and then watching the end product because that's the little surprise elements, you know.
04:16You feel the same way, kind of, Catherine, when you're on set with Michael and you're in front of each
04:23other and doing those lights.
04:23Here we go again.
04:25How different is that to what we see us here?
04:27Let's carry the scene.
04:31No, I mean, so many things came to mind when you asked the question.
04:34I really think, you know, Michael is leading us in so many ways and he sets the bar so high.
04:42He works so incredibly hard.
04:43He's like ruining the take.
04:46It sounds like I'm peeing in the background.
04:48Peeing in the corner.
04:49Yeah, that's just what happens to him when he gets compliments.
04:52He loses control.
04:53He starts peeing.
04:55But really, you know, his work ethic, which in a way sounds like a way of not giving someone a
05:03compliment, but actually the result of that.
05:07He works so hard for so little returns.
05:09It's so hard, but, you know, he's so well prepared and he has such a deep and holistic understanding of
05:19what we're trying to do and the story we're telling that it makes him incredibly free in the scene.
05:26And I think I've, over the years working with him, have learned from that, like the value of that and
05:32really, because there's like nothing more electrifying, exciting in a scene than somebody free enough, loose enough to just have
05:45whatever happens happen.
05:48And I think the hardest thing is working with an actor where you can see what they're trying to do
05:53all the time and they're like gearing up for some bit of performance.
05:58And with Michael, it's just like, you know, you forget, you want to forget that you're playing as much as
06:04you can and believe that you're in this world.
06:07And it's really easy to fall into the story when I'm working with Michael and it's just a total dream.
06:14Talking about being prepared as you are, I was watching one of the interviews you did for the last series
06:20and Michael was talking about how he, like, in building the character of Martian, he thought about what he was
06:25when he was 20 and joined the agency and what those years and those very specific pressures and experiences have
06:31done to him over the time and where he is in the future in your kind of own understanding of
06:36how he acts and whatnot.
06:38And it made me wonder about both of you guys. What do you think are the biggest stark differences to
06:44you about Catherine and Michael from like Michael Clayton and Band of Brothers to where you are now?
06:52What are the greatest differences in your process and, I don't know, how you feel in yourselves, I guess?
07:00I was pretty green when we did Steve Jobs together. It was really one of the first big films I
07:06did.
07:07And I remember mostly the motivation being not getting fired, you know, like that when you're starting out and you
07:13really feel like you just can't, you just can't mess up.
07:18And the irony is, as you get older, you're like, let's try one where we mess up, you know, because
07:22so much interesting stuff comes out of that kind of freedom.
07:26But you don't, you're not afforded that kind of freedom when you're, when you're starting out, you, you feel or
07:31I did anyway, like I couldn't let any, I mean, I still feel that pressure a little bit, like, you
07:36can't let anybody down.
07:37Um, and you, you don't want to be the fool and you don't want your inexperience to damage the project
07:46in any way.
07:47Um, I don't, I don't know. What was the question?
07:52Yeah, I think, you know, I went into a dark place.
07:54The early years, the panic, oh God, I don't know what I'm doing.
07:59No, I think, yeah, the same, you know, the fear factor, you know, I was like, I got to get
08:04the next job before that one comes out, you know, and just learning, you know, your trade.
08:09And I think I, as well, just being in my twenties, you know, and not really knowing who I was
08:15and, you know, the experience of just life and sort of, you know, coming, you know, into a place comfortable
08:21with myself.
08:23And then of course, you know, having children, you know, it's, that's, is, is a kind of great sort of
08:29ego sort of neutralizer in the best way possible.
08:34Because it's sort of like now I just, you know, this is, this is the main focus. I can still
08:38go to work and, you know, still like, you know, take it, you know, work hard.
08:43And the prep actually has always been the same, you know, just sort of spending a lot of time doing
08:47my homework.
08:48So when I arrive on set, I can get rid of the fear factor because I'm like, well, I've done
08:53everything I can.
08:54Now I just have to try and enjoy it and be relaxed because there's nothing else I can do.
08:59Mistakes will be made, but they won't be made because I didn't prep enough.
09:03And, but now it's sort of like, I was like, God, what was I worrying about for all those years?
09:09This is a real worry now. I've got like two little human beings that, you know, I want to do
09:14well in life and try and protect, you know, and look after and all that.
09:17So that's sort of, you know, kind of relieves all those other things.
09:21But I think just, you know, that journey of being a different person, you know, maturing, you know.
09:29Well, it's worked out for you guys. There's two mature performances in this one.
09:34I can tell you you've done your homework.
09:35Because I'm here. I'm in control.
09:40Oh!
09:41Ah!
09:41Oh, my, ma, I'm in clear for my life from good harm.
09:45Oh, my, my, my, my.
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