‘12 Years a Slave’ star Michael Fassbender won’t playing the Oscar game

Will Perkins
·Blogger

If you plan to follow the lead-up to Oscar season in the coming months, you’ll definitely be hearing Michael Fassbender’s name quite a bit.

The 36-year-old German-Irish actor is getting a tonne of awards season buzz for his turn as a vicious plantation owner in Steve McQueen’s slavery drama “12 Years a Slave” – a film that has a ridiculous amount of Oscar hype in its own right, thanks to its People’s Choice Award win at the Toronto International Film Festival last month.

But despite being an early Oscar favourite in the Best Supporting Actor category, Fassbender recently said he has no interest in campaigning for an Academy Award this year.

“It's just a grind,” Fassbender told GQ. “I'm not a politician. I'm an actor.”

It’s not well publicized, but actors, directors, and studios spend big bucks on Oscar campaigns, taking out “For your consideration...” ads in Hollywood trade magazines and hosting glitzy meet-and-greet events. Wooing Academy voters is all part of the game if you want to take home one of Hollywood’s biggest prizes. But Fassbender said he is having none of it this year.

“You know, I get it,” the actor said of the awards campaign process. “Everybody's got to do their job. So you try and help and facilitate as best you can. But I won't put myself through that kind of situation again.”

Though he’s only been a known quantity in Hollywood for a few years, the “X-Men: First Class” and "Prometheus" star has been in this position before. Fassbender’s unflinching portrayal of a man battling sexual addiction in McQueen’s 2011 film “Shame” was an Oscar-worthy performance if there ever was one, and yet the actor wasn’t even nominated. This, despite studio Fox Searchlight spending major dollars on an Oscar campaign for the NC-17 rated film and its star. Is it any wonder that Fassbender is a little put off by the whole process?

Oddly enough, this "won't play" approach might actually help Fassbender's Oscar chances. Nothing puts an actor on the Academy radar quicker than public disdain for the Oscars. Heck, it worked for people like Marlon Brando and George C. Scott in the past. Scott twice refused Oscar nominations, but won the Best Actor award anyway in 1970 for his portrayal General George S. Patton in "Patton." Brando, already a Best Actor winner for "On the Waterfront," famously turned down the award for his role in "The Godfather" and boycotted the 1973 ceremony. More recently, "The Master" star Joaquin Phoenix called the Oscar race "bulls---," but ended up being nominated for his incredible performance in the film despite his harsh words.

With "12 Years a Slave" already a frontrunner in the Best Picture, Best Director (McQueen), and Best Actor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) categories, the Academy might end up honouring Fassbender's performance with a Best Supporting Actor nod just to spite him! Who doesn't love a clean sweep?

"12 Years a Slave" arrives in theatres on Oct. 18.

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