Michael Fassbender is an acting professional.
Michael Fassbender ( born 2 April 1977 ) is a German-born Irish actor . His feature film debut was in the fantasy war epic 300 ( 2007 ) as a Spartan warrior ; his earlier roles included various stage productions , as well as starring roles on television such as in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers ( 2001 ) and the Sky One fantasy drama Hex ( 2004 -- 05 ) . 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 . In 2015 , he portrayed the title role in the Danny Boyle-directed biopic Steve Jobs ( 2015 ) , and played Macbeth in Justin Kurzel 's adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play .