Michael Fassbender talks ‘Prometheus,’ says David android is ‘creepy’
Ridley Scott returns to science fiction in a big way this summer with “Prometheus,” a prequel to “Alien,” set some thirty-five years or so before Sigourney Weaver and company first discovered the xenomorph. Fassbender joins an ensemble cast as the stoic android David aboard the Prometheus ship.
Talking with Shortlist in an interview published this weekend, the “X-Men: First Class” star describes David as creepy.
“There’s a vanity to him. And he always has the answers so there’s a swagger to him, too. In fact, I think he might be kind of creepy. I do creepy well. If you’re looking for weird or creepy in a robotic style, call me.”
Even the “300” actor says he “does creepy well,” questions remain about what attached him to David and playing an android.
“What I thought was interesting was him being programmed to react in a certain way. And part of that is him blending in with humans, so does an ego develop to facilitate that? He’s there to serve them, but he’s sort of disliked because they think he might be superior to them. Or just different. Because humans have that thing where they’re like, ‘Something’s different? Persecute!”
While “Prometheus” in set in the “Alien” timeline, the cast is hesitant to call it a prequel and Fassbender is careful how he connects the film to the 1979 Sci-fi classic.
“What I will say is that the first Alien film had an intelligent, slow-burning, sinister element to it — there’s this feeling in this. Before I read the script, I thought the concept had already been exhausted. I’d seen so many of them — AVP: Alien Vs Predator, Alien here, Alien there. But I can tell you there’s no Predator. I came dressed one day as the Predator and was like, “What do you think?” I tried to get him in [laughs]. But it’s amazing. It’s really about strong characters again. And I love the fact that Noomi [Rapace] is a strong leading female, like Sigourney Weaver was.”
The extensive interview revealed the curious fact that the star of “Shame” wasn’t allowed to watch many R-rated films in his youth, and when he finally saw “Alien,” it seemed real.
“My parents didn’t allow me to watch 18-rated films in my early teens, but sometimes they’d show me certain ones that they thought had some sort of value. Alien was one of them and I remember being scared. I also remember being totally convinced it was real. It’s very intelligent and the characters seem real so it allows you to just accept the fantasy.”
Check out the complete interview here.
Fassbender stars alongside Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Rafe Spall, Guy Pearce
“Prometheus” opens in theaters on June 8, 2012.
