Michael Fassbender has been involved with Assassin's Creed now for over five years, which meant that when everything was finally in order with the video game adaptation and production was ready to go ahead, he was always going to be very meticulous about making it stand-out. During my discussion with Michael Fassbender at the press junket for Assassin's Creed in New York City, the Irish actor admitted that in order to make the film unique from its genre peers, they absconded from using too many special effects.
Michael Fassbender explained to me that there was one Assassin's Creed scene that was particularly hard to shoot because of this approach. This sequence depicts an Auto-da-fe from the Spanish Inquisition, which was when condemned heretic and apostates were burned alive at the stake.
Shooting this scene was difficult for Michael Fassbender because where they were filming in Malta, it was "a sun trap," while the technicalities of "moving parts," "the fight choreography" and the dangerous mixture of both fire and chains meant that there was a lot to contend with, or so the actor tells us. However, while Fassbender insisted that it was the "toughest sequence" to film, it also proved to be his favorite, too. This then provoked Michael Fassbender to explain why he was so adamant about being pushed to such physical extremes for Assassin's Creed. Fassbender revealed:
With this film, we wanted to film it in real locations. With real people. Film it in an old school way as opposed to using a lot of special effects, because we feel like this genre is saturated with CGI so we wanted to go in a different route.
You can get a glimpse of the sort of stunts and extremes that Michael Fassbender was pushed to with Assassin's Creed by watching its trailer below.
Meanwhile, you can also have a sneaky peak at my discussion with the Academy Award nominated actor (Steve Jobs) by clicking on the clip underneath, too.
Assassin's Creed sees Michael Fassbender play Callum Lynch, a career criminal that's rescued from his execution by Abstergo Industries. However, they have ulterior motives for capturing him, as he is then forced to take part in the Animus Project that makes him relive the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha from the Spanish Inquisition. But as Lynch relives these moments he acquires Aguilar's knowledge and skills, while the powers that be at Abstergo hope that he'll lead them to an artifact that can cause a scientific breakthrough. Assassin's Creed is in cinemas starting Wednesday.
