Fassy B

MICHAEL FASSBENDER: I WILL NEVER BE JAMES BOND

STORY BY JONATHAN HEAF

Odds on Michael Fassbender becoming the next James Bond after Daniel Craig are 16/1 at Paddy Power. Damian Lewis has the same odds, whereas the frontrunners are still Tom Hiddleston, Aidan Turner and Idris Elba. Fassbender wants this cleared up once and for all. “Bond! Is this rumour still going round?” It is, very much so, I tell him. “You would have thought I was out of the bookies by now.”

So come on, once and for all, would he consider playing James Bond? “To be honest, no. As an acting role, I think Daniel has done such a cracking job in this age group.” I tell him I think Craig is about ten years older than Fassbender. “Well, look at me! I look about 50! No, I think the franchise needs something new.” Such as? “What about we start the film back in Sandhurst, army training, rather than on a yacht, or he’s in the Middle East on an op and gets thrown in the brig for insubordination. He’s going to get court-martialed…"

For someone who has just taken themselves out of the race he’s given James Bond an awful lot of thought. "Well, I have thought about it a lot. The film could start off in Sandhurst and how he became a ‘double 0’. M could walk in and say to him, 'Bond, there’s a 00 project but it’s going to be totally off the book, black ops, and you’ve got to go into prison undetected.’ Fassbender laughs. "I just love Bond. Doesn’t everyone? I grew up with him. It’s always a fun conversation to have."

"But Bond should be someone in their early twenties." What about Ryan Gosling? "Sure, why not? I always thought Bond should be British, but let’s get an American in. Or maybe someone like Jack O'Connell would be good? Or even better, how about Jane Bond? A woman. One thing is for sure, it won’t be anyone on the bookies’ lists. It never is."

Michael Fassbender on acting opposite his partner Alicia Vikander

"Derek [Cianfrance] was trying to create an environment where the actors can be as real as possible. You service the characters. You use elements of reality but also the imagination. The relationship myself and Alicia went on to have did not pollute the journeys of Tom and Isabel, the characters. Not for me, anyway."

Michael Fassbender on Donald Trump

"I think people are angry and that’s why Trump got such a huge following. They feel disenfranchised and this is their way to strike back. But is he the answer they are looking for? Feels to me like he’s someone who got us into this mess in the first place, with the bankers and so on – he’s just part of the problem."