Happy Birthday, Michael Fassbender!

I must have been 15 years old - around 8 years ago - when got obsessed with finding famous people sharing their birthday with me. That's when I came across Michael Fassbender, who I at first considered nothing but a very good looking man. I wasn't that much into movies at the time - truth to be told, I pretty much watched blockbusters only - so I didn't care about the movies he made.

Things were to change in 2011 when X-Men: First Class came out. I grew up watching the original X-Men trilogy and guess who my favourite character was? Okay, I'll say it, Magneto. I've always had a soft spot for villains - I was the kid rooting for Scar. And I'm still rooting for him - and Magneto has always been my favourite. I did, however, miss the film. I don't even know how that happened.

But I guess that's how it was supposed to be because the next year I started developing a deeper interest in cinema. That's when I bought Steve McQueen's Shame, and that's when Michael Fassbender became one of my favourite actors. 

My love for him has grown ever since, and it's still growing today, so, in honour of his 40th birthday, I wanted to share with you my top three favourite roles and performances of him.

BRANDON in SHAME (2011) Brandon is the kind of guy who could have everything at once if it wasn't for his compulsive addiction to sex that strips him of his freedom and keeps him locked up in a mental prison, a prison that he has built to punish himself. He doesn't even enjoy the sex, he is just ashamed of his condition and of his inability to feel something or really be himself with someone. He is an angry, sad, afraid and lonely man and Michael Fassbender is able to express each of these feelings in an astonishing and devastatingly real way. 

FRANK in FRANK (2014) Frank is a very mysterious and enigmatic man and the main reason for that is he wearing a giant cartoon head to hide his face from the entire world. Underneath that mask, though, there is an unstable and real person who struggles to find his identity. One moment he is a superhuman, one moment he is an insecure child. He is a man with deep mental problems who is trying to reinvent himself and just wants to be unique. In a nutshell, another fucked up character. And Michael Fassbender gives another stunning performance, probably my favourite, because, in spite of the covered face, he manages to show the depth of such a complex character only through gestures and voice modulation.

STEVE JOBS in STEVE JOBS (2015) Do I really need to tell you who Steve Jobs is? Okay. He was a stubborn, selfish and arrogant man who did not hesitate to compare himself to God. He was the kind of man who didn't care about what people thought of him; the kind of man who thought rules did not apply to him; the kind of man who lived in a distorted reality to fool himself and the others. A dick, in other words. But he was a genius as well, and let's be honest, he is the one who made technology beautiful. Why am I even saying this, it's obvious that Michael Fassbender gives another magnificent performance as he completely disappear into the character.