Actor Michael Fassbender has a strange sort of magic he brings on set, director Steve McQueen told Newstalk back in October. It’s the kind of magic that leaves people in tears when he finishes a scene.
The acclaimed artist and director was speaking on The Green Room following the London Premiere of his new film 12 Years A Slave—a film that has been rapturously received since its premieres at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals in August and September.
It is the third time the Irish-German actor and British director have collaborated on a film, after their successful work on Hunger and Shame. The former film marked McQueen’s incredibly accomplished first feature film, while Fassbender’s powerful portrayal of Bobby Sands instantly marked him as one of the most important actors of his generation.
Chiwetel Ejiofor & Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave, Image: Fox Searchlight Pictures
12 Years a Slave is a harrowing account of slavery in North America and is based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, a free New Yorker who is duped and abducted into servitude. In contrast to earlier films—which barely offered a frame without Fassbender’s presence—the actor takes a supporting but significant role this time around as a cruel plantation owner called Edwin Epps who gains ‘ownership’ of Solomon. Epps forces his slaves to pick 200 pounds of cotton every day, and those who fail to fulfil their quota are tortured.
For McQueen, his ongoing work with Fassbender remains an important artistic partnership. He tells Orla “I first met him [in 2007] at an audition for Hunger. Obviously our friendship has grown and hopefully blossomed. I value our relationship more than a lot of things about life, I value it tremendously. He’s an artist, an amazing artist. He’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Trusting the Director
Occupying the role of Solomon himself, meanwhile, is British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who says he knew working with McQueen would be demanding but he trusted him completely. “You have to slip down the rabbit hole and just do it. I knew Steve would go to all the places you would have to go to, I knew that’s what I wanted to do and I was excited about that.”
In terms of portraying Solomon, Ejiofor admits, “there were sequences that were technical, sequences that were emotional. In a way, the focus of the film was always on Solomon Northup, and attempting to connect as much as I could to his journey… In some of the things he endured I was able to try and connect with how he felt at any given moment. That was a real privilege in a way; to feel any kind of connection to what he went through.”
McQueen, meanwhile, brushes off suggestions that the violence depicted on screen—which reportedly resulted in a number of walkouts in Toronto—was too graphic for audiences. For the director, it all boiled down to whether he’s, “making a film about slavery, or…not. And if you make a film about slavery, you need to understand how people were embondaged this way for 400 years. It was through mental and physical torture. I wasn’t going to hold back.” He further believes that American slavery was a global phenomenon, and says, “I’m here as an individual today because members of my family went through slavery. Fact.”
In terms of bringing the difficult story to life, McQueen found another important collaborator in the form of prolific composer Hans Zimmer of Gladiator and The Dark Knight fame. “I just rang him up… as you do!” laughs McQueen when explaining how the in-demand Zimmer got on board. Despite the fact that the composer was working on Man of Steel—telling McQueen he was “destroying the world” at the time—he quickly agreed to work on 12 Years… as well. “He has to be submerged in the narrative so deeply that it comes out in another way,” McQueen observes with admiration. “It translates in him through sound. So that’s the kind of focus Hans Zimmer has. He’s an incredible guy.”
The Oscar buzz for 12 Years a Slave, which will reach Irish screens in January 2014, was well underway before audiences had even had the chance to sit down and watch the film. However, Fassbender, who was Oscar nominated for his performance in Shame, says he won’t be playing the Oscar game this time around.
McQueen agrees with Fassbender’s stance, saying he doesn't plan to campaign for the Oscars either. “I’m not campaigning,” he stresses. “[Michael’s] campaign is on screen. That’s Michael Fassbender’s Oscar campaign. There’s nothing much more to say. He’s done his thing, that’s it.”
