Well, we've always said that Michael Fassbender could probably do anything. The chameleonic actor has been a mutant, a robot, an IRA prisoner, a sex addict, a resurrected Nazi ghoul and whatever-the-hell he was in "Jonah Hex." And while almost all of his performances have featured wry strains of humor, he's never had to be outright funny. Until now. Variety reports that the actor has been cast alongside Domhnall Gleeson (who has a memorable turn in this month's terrific "Dredd") in Film4's comedy "Frank," to be directed by Irish filmmaker Lenny Abrahamson.
The plot revolves around Gleeson, who plays "an aspiring musician who finds himself in over his head when he joins an eccentric rock band led by Fassbender." The script, by Peter Straughan and journalist Jon Ronson (whose amazing book "The Men Who Stare At Goats" was made into a lousy movie by George Clooney), was a Brit List entry a few years ago and is loosely based around the life of Chris Sievey, an English musician and comedian who formed the band The Freshies and later performed as the character Frank Sidebottom.
This is yet another project Fassbender has in the works – he recently finished filming a part in frequent collaborator Steve McQueen's "12 Years A Slave" and is currently in production on Ridley Scott's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's original screenplay thriller "The Counselor." Sometime very soon he'll put on the helmet and cloak to play Magneto again, in Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: Days of Future Past," and he also has a deal to co-produce and star in an adaptation of popular videogame series "Assassin's Creed." For his part, Gleeson, who made a name for himself as Bill Weasley in the "Harry Potter" films, has not one but two films at the Toronto Film Festival this year – not only is "Dredd" playing the Midnight Madness slate but he also co-stars in Joe Wright's stagey (in a good way) adaptation of "Anna Karenina."
Few other details are known about "Frank," but this certainly sounds like an exciting project, due to the many talented folks involved. We can't wait to see if Fassbender handles comedy as well as he handles just about everything else.