Michael Fassbender: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

On paper, Hunger looked like a huge opportunity for whoever was lucky enough to be cast in the lead to get a gimme Oscar nomination. It would surely involve a bodily transformation like Christian Bale's in The Machinist, and the historical importance of the story should also have qualified it for consideration anyway.

So Michael Fassbender probably didn't even need to do that much in Steve McQueen's stunning film to impress. But nobody told him that, and he offers a towering performance of visceral emotion, fury and charm that is brutally affecting to watch. He again captures the complexity of the character.

And it's about so much more than a physical change (though his commitment on that front is stunning also): there is nuance and beauty in his performance, and watching him talk through his motivation to strike with a priest is almost irresistibly captivating.