Michael Fassbender considered breaking his own arm to avoid Steve Jobs movie

By

Aaron Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie is coming to Netflix
Alternatively he could have just quit.
Photo: François Duhamel/Universal Studios

Actor Michael Fassbender, who played Apple’s late CEO in last year’s movie biopic Steve Jobs, has said he was so worried he had been miscast that he started planning some slightly extreme ways to get out of the role.

“In rehearsals, I was trying to find a way to get out of the job,” he told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I remember telling my driver, ‘If I put my arm in the door, you should slam it. It should cause a break and it should get me out of this gig.’”

As is well-documented, Fassbender was not the first choice for the role — and was only given it after Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale reportedly passed. While Fassbender physically looked nothing like Jobs, he was nonetheless heavily praised for his performance. He even secured a “Best Actor” Oscar nomination.

At the time, however, Fassbender said he was intimidated by the role as written by Aaron Sorkin.

“He wrote all that stuff, it was so dense,” Fassbender said. “It was such a mountain, and I’m a slow learner, so when the script arrived for me and the opportunity came to play the part, I really thought, ‘This is not me. This should be somebody else. It’s a miscast scenario.'”

The movie wound up bombing in theaters, although it’s still worth watching for Fassbender’s performance — particularly if you’re happy to pretend it’s a fictitious story about a guy named Steve Jobs, rather than any attempt at painting things as they actually happened.

Source: Independent.ie

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.