Filmmaker David Fincher is known for his exacting standards and for doing a ton of takes whilst filming, thus he likes actors up for the challenge.
He’s got one in Michael Fassbender whom it is revealed apparently never blinked during scenes when the camera was on him.
That little nugget was revealed by cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt during an interview with Empire Magazine (via IGN) to promote the film. The lenser had worked with Fincher on both “Mindhunter” and “Mank,” and calls Fassbender the “perfect actor for David”.
That’s when he revealed how Fassbender didn’t blink on camera for the entire shoot: Fincher himself says Fassbender reminded him of his work alongside Daniel Craig in his “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” adaptation:
“Michael’s eyes betray a lot. He can hold a lot of conflicting things in his mind and his eyes allow you access to it.
He’s like Daniel Craig in that way, saying, ‘I can do it better’. Tell him to stop 1/3 inch shorter and he can fine-tune that technical stuff, while on top of that, he’s got really good ideas about behavior.
He has this gift as an actor, but clamped on top of it is this incredible discipline about how he subdivides his next move.”
Based on the French graphic novel series, Fassbender stars as an assassin who finds himself unravelling after a job went wrong. Tilda Swinton, Arliss Howard and Sophie Charlotte co-star in the movie which premiered at the Venice Film Festival.
“The Killer” hits select theaters on October 27th followed by a November 10th streaming release.
