Beyond the Script – Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan talk about their vulnerability, rejection, and the power of acting

While Michael Fassbender returned with David Fincher’s The Killer and Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Carey Mulligan was seen in the biographical drama - Maestro, where she played the role of Felicia Montealegre, who was a famous actress from the ‘50s to ‘70s, and also the wife of Leonard Bernstein, played by Bradley Cooper.

No wonder, both the films - The Killer and Maestro have garnered critical acclaim. Interestingly, both the films made their World Premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival 2023, and also both are streaming on Netflix.

Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan's face-to-face interview

After giving such outstanding performances, Fassbender and Mulligan came face-to-face through Variety’s Actors On Actors. The duo talked about their debut from theatre acting to their latest films. For the unversed, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan collaborated in Shame, where they played the roles of brother and sister, twelve years ago in 2011.

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Carey started the conversation with a congratulatory speech of Michael’s role as the killer, “I saw your film The Killer and loved it, as I love all Fincher films.” To that Michael replied, “He’s incredible”. The duo also recalled their drama school’s experiences, and Carey jokingly shared that the Drama Centre told him that he should be a children’s television presenter.

Even Michael gave a big shout out to Carey’s performance in Maestro and said, “I just saw Maestro yesterday, and it blew me away. Tell me about being directed by Bradley Cooper. I’ve known him for many years.” He shared that he even called Bradley Cooper and gave immense applause to him by saying, “How do you go into prosthetics for four hours and then have the energy to direct as well?”

The duo talks about their collaboration in Shame

Lastly, while talking about their first collaboration in Shame, Mulligan shared that the film was enormous, and he wanted director Steve McQueen to take her seriously, because she did a lot of research and experiments for the Sissy Sullivan character. Fassbender shared, “I was intimidated too. Just scared. But it’s just so cool to see you. It’s so inspiring watching your work and just all the different roles that you challenge yourself with, and deliver on, consistently.”

Watch the whole interview here:

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