HE shed an astonishing two-and-a-half-stone in weight to play the role of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands but, remarkably, Killarney actor Michael Fassbender has revealed that he found the training regime for the 2006 action fantasy 300 much tougher.
Fossa’s most famous son played the swashbuckling, sword-swinging Greek warrior Stellos in the Spartan epic and he recalls this week that the preparation for the dramatic action scenes made him feel physically sick.
Fassbender, who will appear on the Graham Norton Show tonight, will tell the chat show host how he struggled to keep up with the demands of the movie when he was put through an energy-sapping training regime alongside co-star Gerard Butler.
“It was brutal. You would feel physically ill. By the end, you would be spent,” the 37-year-old tells Norton.
While on the set he survived on a special diet of cottage cheese and nuts for the 10 weeks of filming and the daily exercise routine was extremely physically demanding.
Fassbender said recently that the rounded education he received at Fossa primary school prepared him for his role in 300 as they had learned about the Spartans and he was aware of the storyline.
The Killarney actor is renowned for going to extreme lengths to prepare for his movie roles and he shed so much of his body weight for his stunning part in Steve McQueen’s 2008 historical-drama Hunger that there were times when he looked worryingly emaciated.
Fassbender, who recently returned home to Fossa to visit his parents and catch up with friends, had to undergo another massive training regime to prepare for his latest blockbuster role in X Men in which he stars alongside Hugh Jackman.
It involved pre-dawn visits to a gym and additional workouts on set but he said trying to keep pace with the incredibly focused Jackman spurred him on.
The pre-recorded interview on the Graham Norton Show will be screened on BBC One tonight at 10.35pm.
