Alien Covenant's Michael Fassbender speaks to The New Arab

German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender speaks to The New Arab in an exclusive interview about his rise as a Hollywood star and his upcoming Sci-Fi thriller Alien: Covenant.

The film is the hugely anticipated sequel to Oscar-nominated Prometheus, which takes place before the 1979 Alien film.

Directed by Ridley Scott, who also directed the original Alien film, it follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant, who discover what is presumably an uncharted paradise.

It turns out to be a dangerous world with only one surviving inhabitant: Michael Fassbender's android, David.

When asked about the similarities between the plots of the upcoming and the original films, Fassbender said the differences lied in the details and characters.

"In Alien, the original, the men were heroes who fought and sacrificed themselves in order to save the rest of the crew," he said.

However, the idea of a female lead character fighting the aliens alone remained unchanged.

"I think Ridley Scott views women as the saviour of humanity, and it seems that his view has not changed in the past 40 years," he said.

Sigourney Weaver, who played the lead in the original Alien films, was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 1986 sequel Aliens. However, she was not cast in the new thriller.

"It is a matter of logic. Prometheus takes place before the original Alien film, and so does Alien: Covenant," Fassbender said.

"So, Sigourney Weaver's character from the earlier films could not be present in the new ones."

In many his 30 films, Fassbender has worked with the same three giants in cinema, directors Ridley Scott, Steve McQeen, and Bryan Singer.

"It seems that I know how to impress the directors I work with enough to work with me again," he said jokingly.

It seems that I know how to impress the directors I work with enough to work with me again. - Michael Fassbender

"We understand each other in a way that serves the interest of the films we make together, thus saving a lot of time during shooting."

The 40-year-old star first drew attention to his talent in his role as IRA activist Bobby Sands in Hunger (2008), for which he won a British Independent Film Award.

"I lost 14 kilograms for this role," he said.

"When Quentin Tarantino saw me in Hunger, he cast me in his (2009) film Inglorious Bastards, and this is how I started my career in Hollywood."

Despite his various roles, Fassbender is yet to be seen in a comedy.

"It seems that directors cannot see me in roles other than drama or adventure," he said.

"How can anyone imagine me in a comedy when the role that launched my career was that of a hunger striking prisoner?"

Fassbender added that directors, however, should have an imagination much wider than that of the general public.

"A director's strength lies in his/her imagination," he said, adding that he should be given the opportunity to "prove his talent" in comedy.


Michael Fassbender was speaking to Nabil Massad, for The New Arab's Arabic-language sister publication, al-Araby al-Jadeed. 

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