"Fish Tank", which took last year's Jury Prize at Cannes, shadows fifteen-year-old Mia (first timer and non-pro Katie Jarvis), booted out of school and at war with the world, but dreaming of becoming a hip hop dancer. She lives with a boozing mother and little sister with the preternaturally wizened face of a Dickensian bootblack.
I had the chance to chat with Michael Fassbender in the Soho Grand prior to the film's screening at BAM.

Q: I was intrigued by Connor, all the more as throughout the film he remains mysterious. What's his background? Do we know if he's married?

Michael: I think he's married. Obviously I only found that out as we filmed. Andrea had the script written, but the actors were only given the scenes as we went along. I really didn't have a backstory for him. I pretty much kept him close to myself. I did have the feeling he was running away from something because he was very eager to sort of jump into this readymade family. But the phone conversation that Mia overhears -- that's the first indication that he's got someone else, who wants him to come home. I think he's a fairly irrresponsible kind of guy. Whenever there's trouble, he tends to run away from it.

Q: Do you you work out a lot?

I do at times. Haven't done it in a while now. I think I need to get back into it. Exercise helps my head, keeps it in a healthy space.

Q: I'm asking because your physical presence is very much a part of the characterization. In our first sight of Connor in the kitchen, he's very flirtatious and sexual.

Michael: One thing about Connor that I knew Andrea was looking for was that he was quite a sexual character. He was coming into a house full of women. That's why she had me come downstairs for breakfast with my shirt off and jeans hanging down every low. You just have to go for it. What Connor does well in terms of Mia is tell her that she has talent and she should have confidence in herself. He's a fairly good hearted person, not a predator.

Q: Katie Jarvis, who's sensational as Mia, had never acted before. What was it like playing against a non pro?

Michael: She finds the truth in the scene, with not a lot of vanity. She has a gut instinct and just goes for it, has a special gift for that. I'd put her up there with some of the best actors I've been privileged to work with.

Q: Your career has taken off bigtime. What's coming up?

Michael: A spy film of Steven Soderbergh, where I'm an MI6 operative. I'm also doing Jane Eyre directed by Cary Fukunaga ("Sin Nombre"). It will be interesting to see what kind of angle he'll take on it.

Q: Aren't you too young for Mr. Rochester?

Michael: I'll grey up a little. Then a film with David Cronenberg, "A Dangerous Method." It's about the triangle between Freud, Jung and his patient Sabina, a patient of both of theirs, written by Christopher Hampton.

Q: How do you feel about your success?

Michael: Grateful, yeah. Cautious. Wary. Y'know the bottom can fall out of these things at any point.