Since taking the indie cinema world by storm a mere five years ago with Hunger, Fassbender has become known for his thorough preparation for each part he takes on. When asked about his homework leading up to 12 Years a Slave, he admits to taking a few steps to help get inside the head of Epps and of the world he was about to inhabit. “First of all I had to try and find a voice, so I worked with tapes and a dialect coach and tried on various accents,” he reveals. “I also went to Louisiana for about 6 weeks before we started filming to try and soak up the atmosphere there and then it’s just about working with the script. I read the book of course, but then just spent time with the script.”
The film tells the true story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery in the South. It garnered critical praise and standing ovations at its screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as a few walk-outs due to the film’s graphic depiction of how the slave owners kept their “property” in line.
It’s not easy subject matter to watch, and Fassbender concedes that it wasn’t always easy having to act it all out, but that the cast and crew’s sheer commitment to doing Northup’s story justice helped them all get through the shoot. “You could almost hear, like, this high-pitched humming because everyone was just so zoned in for the entire working day.” He explains with a laugh and a demonstration of what that hum might have sounded like.
“The worst feeling for an actor,” he continues, “is to finish a day’s work and get halfway home and think, ‘Shit! That’s the way I should have done that!’ and that does happen anyway, but to minimize that feeling, you really put everything into it so that it’s all left on the floor. It’s all there, you left it behind and then you can go home and relax. You exorcise the demons on set that day.”
He’s also quick to credit his fellow actors—the cast also includes Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt—for becoming a sort of safety net and support for one another when things got especially grim. “I don’t think (the film) would have been possible without the real sense of love and connection on set. We were all linked to one another and without one another we wouldn’t have gone to the places that we did. It was total dependence really.”
When asked to sum up how he feels about the 12 Years a Slave experience, the actor thinks for a moment before leaning in and smiling broadly, “It’s a masterwork. I’m proud to be a part of it.”
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Michael for his time both at and after the press conference. Be sure to check out 12 Years a Slave when it hits theatres on October 18th.