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Michael Fassbender: 'People thought I had cancer'

Published Sunday, Jun 5 2011, 16:03 BST | By Tom Ayres | Add comment

Michael Fassbender has said that people thought he was a cancer patient after he lost an extreme amount of weight for his role in the 2008 drama Hunger.

The X-Men: First Class star, who portrayed IRA volunteer Bobby Sands in the film, lost over two stone in only a ten-week period.

"I went for my final check-up after filming and my doctor said, 'Last time you came in here you looked pretty bad'," Fassbender revealed to Bang! Showbiz. "My assistant was outside and she saw you and said, 'My God, that guy's really ill, isn't he?' She thought you had cancer'."

Fassbender explained that despite the extreme nature of his diet, he made sure to remain healthy throughout the process and refused to go below a certain body weight.

"I had my cut-off point and if I went below it I was told things would get a little tricky," Fassbender continued. "I remember looking at myself and thinking, 'God, there are bones sticking out here'."

Despite struggling with the weight loss programme, Fassbender claimed he eventually found the process 'liberating'.

Fassbender reunited with Hunger director Steve McQueen on the film Shame, due out later this year.

Watch Michael Fassbender as Magneto in the trailer for X-Men: First Class below: