I think Michael Fassbender has been chilling out in Ireland for several weeks, ever since the Irish Film & Television Awards earlier this month. He seems to have been spending time with his mom and dad and awaiting the premiere of Frank, which is financed and distributed by the Irish Film Council (or something). The film is super-Irish, that’s what I’m getting at. And here are some photos of Fassy (plus Domhnall Gleeson) at the premiere in Dublin last night.

First of all… damn it, Fassy looks good. He’s looked like ten kinds of hell for the better part of a year and a half. Spending a few weeks at home has worked wonders for him. His hair is a good length, his skin looks rosy and healthy and he just looks well-rested overall. Maybe my crush is coming back. Slowly. Second of all… Frank is the movie where Fassy plays the “Frank” character and does the whole thing wearing the giant plastic head. You never see his face. Yesterday, The Guardian had an excellent piece about how the film was made and it included new quotes with Fassy, the director, etc. Here are some select Fassy quotes:

Fassy on the gigantic head: “It’s pretty comfortable now. I’m used to it. It was kind of weird in the beginning, the way it sits on your head. You feel a little bit vulnerable because you’ve not much peripheral vision. You can only see straight in front of you. You can’t hear that well either. But it’s quite liberating as well, in the way that masks are. It’s amazing how many emotions that face manages to convey. It can look vulnerable, it can look sinister, at times it looks confused.”

Why this script? “The script just made me laugh out loud,” he replies, admitting he had never heard of Frank Sidebottom. “I thought there were also poignant moments there. It’s a very unusual story, a real standalone. If it’s refreshing to read, it’s hopefully refreshing to watch.”

Fassy wanted to be a rock star when he was younger: “I wouldn’t call it a band,” he says, recalling his efforts as a 17-year-old. “It was just me and another guy on guitar. We could never find a drummer or a bass player. We never even got as far as having a name. We were both called Michael so we could have been Michael and Michael.”

The actors are really playing, but they can’t identify their “sound”: “Somebody said one song sounded like Jim Morrison,” says Fassbender, “but then the next one sounded like the Sex Pistols. We’re never supposed to be good pop music, we’re supposed to be odd music that strikes a beautiful chord in some kind of way, but remaining sort of … not sh-t music exactly, but let’s say … hard to market.”

[From The Guardian]

So, apparently all of the people really are playing all of the instruments and they’re really singing and everything. Fassy plays the guitar and keyboards, Carla Azar (who has worked with Jack White) on drums, François Civil on bass and Maggie Gyllenhaal on “vocals, Moog and theremin.” Maggie also plays Frank’s girlfriend. So, do you want to see Frank? I do not. But I don’t really think any less of Fassy for doing this weird, experimental film.

Photos courtesy of WENN.