Steve McQueen/Michael Fassbender
Number Of Films Together: 3 — “Hunger” (2008), “Shame” (2011), “Twelve Years A Slave” (2013)
History:
Back in 2008, Steve McQueen was a well-known British artist, but
virtually an unknown in the wider world of filmmaking, while Michael
Fassbender was an actor who’d been tipped for a while, but was best
known for a small role in “300” and a British ‘Buffy’ rip-off called
“Hex.” Now, the former is a lauded filmmaker and the latter is a legitimate
star. While their partnership is still young, the duo are imminently
teaming up for a third time on “12 Years A Slave,” which looks to be
a serious awards contender this fall. McQueen had never worked with
actors before he made “Hunger,” about the IRA hunger-striker Bobby
Sands, and must have felt spoiled to have cast Fassbender, telling The Guardian
of the actor, who fasted for 10 weeks during the filming to reach his
gaunt frame in the film’s final third, “He committed himself totally to
the part, and I think it changed him somehow. He became very inward,
very philosophical. At one point, he became like Bob Marley in a way,
philosophising about the meaning of life and shit. I was like, what the
fuck is going on here?'” That it was their first film seemed to bond the
pair, with Fassbender later telling Collider “Together,
we were experiencing a lot. I could see, on Steve’s face, the passion
and wanting to get it right, and I wanted to get it right, too. We just
formed a language, very quickly.” McQueen designed his next film,
“Shame,” about a sex addict in New York, with the intention of
Fassbender playing the lead, and by the time they came to shoot it, an almost wordless telepathy had
developed in their process. When we spoke
to McQueen at NYFF two years ago, he told us,”He
would do a take, and it would be not exactly what I wanted, and I’d
walk up to him, and as soon as I walked up, he’d be ‘Yeah, I know.’ We’d
grunt and groan a lot, it’s like falling in love, it’s shocking and
surprising. When it happens, you hold on to it, and it’s something I’m
grateful to have.” They’re clearly still incredibly close, and McQueen
calls it “one of the most important relationships I’ve had in my life.
My mother, my sister, my wife, my twin children, further friends, and
Michael. That’s how deep it is, really,” in an interview with the AV Club. So even after the release of “12 Years A Slave,” we’re sure we’ll see the two continue to work together; Fassbender said at the release of “Shame,”
“When I was seventeen and I started off doing this, my dream was to
meet a director, and to have a relationship with a director, like
Scorsese/De Niro, Lumet/Pacino. That would be the ultimate, to have a
collaboration like that, and to be on a wavelength that powerful with
somebody, and that’s what I was so lucky to find with Steve with
‘Hunger.’ “
Key
Film: With Fassbender in a supporting role in “12 Years A Slave,” we’d
still likely go with “Hunger,” not just for the actor’s alarming physical
commitment, but for his absolute dedication to the role on
every level, and not least in the amazing 22-minute sequence with Liam
Cunningham‘s priest.
Honorable Mentions: Like we said, we’ve tried to stick with active and current partnerships, in part because the wealth of options from classic cinema is so great. That said, there were still some others that are worth mentioning. The Coens, for instance, have long-standing relationships with the likes of John Goodman and Frances McDormand, while James Gray and Joaquin Phoenix have a major double-act that continues with this year’s “The Immigrant.” Similarly, Wong Kar-Wai and long-time leading man Tony Leung Chiu-Wai have teamed up again for this year’s “The Grandmasters”
Other notables also include Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor, David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, Mike Leigh and Timothy Spall, Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke, Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, Gus Van Sant and Matt Damon, Guy Ritchie and Mark Strong, Sofia Coppola and Kirsten Duntst (yes, she recently popped up in “The Bling Ring” in a cameo), Dennis Dugan and Adam Sandler, and the inspiration for this feature, Nicolas Winding Refn, who also has a long-standing relationship with Mads Mikkelsen. Plus, there are plenty of newer but promising collaborations that we hope will continue: people like Kelly Reichardt and Michelle Williams, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, and Lars Von Trier and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The list, as usual, goes on and on. If there are any pairs you love that we’ve omitted, please let us know in the comments section below.
