It turns out Michael Fassbender didn’t blink once on camera while filming The Killer.
During an interview with Empire Magazine, director David Fincher confirmed that Fassbender pushed himself to get into the mind of the title character, and not blinking, it seems, was key.
“Michael’s eyes betray a lot,” said Fincher. “He can hold a lot of conflicting things in his mind and his eyes allow you access to it.”
It may sound like a small detail, but not blinking on camera for an entire film shoot is no small feat. That kind of resolve, Fincher said, fit the character perfectly — and it comes from Fassbender himself.
“He’s like Daniel Craig in that way, saying, ‘I can do it better,' ” explained Fincher. “Tell him to stop 1/3 inch shorter and he can fine-tune that technical stuff, while on top of that, he’s got really good ideas about behavior. He has this gift as an actor, but clamped on top of it is this incredible discipline about how he subdivides his next move.”
The Killer stars Fassbender as a hitman who finds his entire world shattered when a job goes sideways, and it’s this perfect stability as portrayed by Fassbender that was crucial to get into the mind of the man when it all goes wrong.
“I thought the character’s nihilism was interesting because it was tied to his self-loathing,” said Fincher. “Then I started thinking about this inner monologue. He has this whole thing he tells himself, which is a way of demeaning his prey so he can feel better about ostensibly being a serial killer for hire. I thought that could be interesting to navigate.”
That monologue can be heard in the film’s first trailer which rocked fans with its simplicity. “Stick to your plan,” chants The Killer. “Anticipate, don’t improvise. Trust no-one. Never yield an advantage. Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight…” But at the end of it, he’s only a man. “He’s not James Bond,” said Fincher. “Our guy flies coach.”
IGN’s The Killer review gave it 7/10 and said: “Legendary director David Fincher’s 12th film The Killer is a return to form that lays bare how emotions can mar untouchability and turn it into a pivotal drive for revenge. Marrying a tight and effective script from Andrew Kevin Walker, smart performances from Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, and sharp editing, this assassin odyssey is one you’ll want to watch again and again.”
The Killers debuts on Netflix on November 10, 2023.
Want to read more about The Killer? Check out how the film channels some classic Hitman looks and find out which are the best movies on Netflix right now.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
