Michael Fassbender on Fish Tank, Sex Scenes, and His Unlikely Literary Fetish

Tell me about Andrea Arnold as a director. What did she do to establish a vibe on set?

I think she has a huge respect for actors. What Andrea is really good at doing is setting up a safe environment to create in. It was a really intimate crew and she really takes the time to make the actors feel safe. Steve McQueen had the same sort of energy on his set when we were making Hunger. Understanding and clarity are the most important things to have as a director.

You and Katie Jarvis have a very intimate encounter in the movie -- how do you shoot something like that when you're working with someone so young and new to film?

You sort of roughly choreograph the scene before you shoot it, but the main thing for me was to make sure that Katie felt that I wasn't taking advantage of her. Basically, I made a fool of myself and told my jokes to just sort of loosen up the atmosphere and keep it very light. You don't want to spend too many takes doing something so tricky and difficult -- you just have to dive in and get it done, really. Like I said, Andrea was very close to Katie and spent a lot of time with her making sure that she felt safe and happy.

Do you feel like Connor realizes he has this attraction for Mia and has been anticipating some sort of moment happening?

I think it's spur of the moment. There's an attraction there, I think, but I think it's something that happens when he's drunk. I don't think he's predatory or anything like that -- I feel like his weakness is his lack of responsibility. He runs from problems rather than facing them.

So how would you describe the chemistry between Connor and Mia?

I think she's basically looking for some male role model in her life, and he comes in an actually takes an interest in her. Connor does bring positivity into her life: He gives her self-belief, he tells her she should follow her dreams, that she has got talent. A lot of these kids that grow up in harsh environments, they don't hear that a lot. Her shell breaks away and she begins to come out more and more as she gets this nourishment that she's certainly not getting from her mother.

It's interesting that as soon as Connor comes on to the scene, it's as though Mia's mom wants to hide her away, like she's suddenly competitive with her daughter.

Yeah, I think that is fair to say. I do know that they were playing around with the idea of a mother-daughter rivalry. Kirsten's character, perhaps, has lost some opportunities with her life because she's a single mother with two kids. Perhaps sometimes she looks at Mia and she's bitter because of that.

Lastly, since you're going to make this film with Christoph Waltz soon, did you ever tell him that originally, you'd been gunning for his role of Landa in Basterds?

Absolutely, I told Christoph! We had a laugh about it. I didn't dare do any Landa impression for him, but yeah. It all turned out perfectly in the end -- I think Christoph did a wonderful job, and I really had a lot of fun with Hicox. Christoph is such a nice man, and he's got a wonderful sense of humor. He just takes everything in stride, so it'll be an absolute joy to start working with him in this coming year.

[Photo Credit: Matt Carr/Getty Images]

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