Michael Fassbender is an actor.
Michael Fassbender ( born 2 April 1977 ) is a German-born Irish actor . He first came to prominence for his role as IRA activist Bobby Sands in Hunger ( 2008 ) , for which he won a British Independent Film Award . Subsequent roles include in the independent film Fish Tank ( 2009 ) , as a Royal Marines lieutenant in Inglourious Basterds ( 2009 ) , as Edward Rochester in the 2011 film adaptation of Jane Eyre , as Carl Jung in A Dangerous Method ( 2011 ) , as a sentient android in Prometheus ( 2012 ) and its sequel , Alien : Covenant ( 2017 ) , and in the musical comedy-drama Frank ( 2014 ) as an eccentric musician loosely inspired by Frank Sidebottom . Also in 2011 , Fassbender 's performance as a sex addict in Shame earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards .