McQueen on Fassbender's 'Shame' Snub: Americans Are 'Too Scared of Sex'

Awards

by Sophia Savage
February 21, 2012 2:45 PM
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Michael Fassbender in "Shame"

If you wondered why Michael Fassbender was passed over for an Oscar nod this year, his "Shame" director has the answer. "In America they're too scared of sex, that's why he wasn't nominated," he told The Press Association. (Fassbender was also snubbed for well-reviewed performances in "A Dangerous Method" and "Jane Eyre.") McQueen thinks that Fassbender's omission from the Best Actor list (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Damien Bichir) is "kind of crazy. But that's how it is, it's an American award, let them have it."

Further defending his leading man, who also starred in McQueen's "Hunger" and upcoming "Twelve Years a Slave" (alongside Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and "The Counselor" (with director Ridley Scott and scripter Cormac McCarthy), the filmmaker insists that Fassbender is a "once-in-a-generation actor" who can "transform and transcend, and you actually believe him, so that's the kind of guy he is."

Fassbender appeared on the covers of THR and GQ, and participated in Newsweek's Oscar roundtable. It seemed a given that the actor would be nominated for an Oscar, as he was for the BAFTAs and Golden Globes (though not, notably, SAG). Alas, Fox Searchlight couldn't overcome the film's NC-17 transgressive subject matter with older voters who make up much of the Academy.

"Shame" will be released in a Blu-ray combo pack on April 17.

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More: Michael Fassbender, Steve McQueen, Academy Awards, Oscars, Awards, Awards, News

1 Comment

| Reply
Nik Grape | February 21, 2012 3:34 PMReply

This is all so true it hurts. Best performance of 2011 completely snubbed. But that's OK. He doesn't need an Oscar nomination to be remembered as one of the two major rising stars in 2011.

McQueen on Fassbender's 'Shame' Snub: Americans Are 'Too Scared of Sex'

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McQueen on Fassbender's 'Shame' Snub: Americans Are 'Too Scared of Sex'

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