Michael Fassbender Talks playing Walter and David in Alien: Covenant
For fans who saw Alien: Covenant during its big premiere weekend came to know a few things. One, the film is incredible from the plot to the acting. Two, it had some scenes that made you nearly jump out of your seat and three, Michael Fassbender takes on two roles and he aces them both.
He recently spoke about Alien: Covenant and everything from when he found out he’d be playing both roles to how he channeled the two characters. We don’t want to give too much of the film away if you’ve not yet been able to make it to the cinema to see it, but we did enjoy hearing a few things about the perspectives of the characters from Michael’s point of view.
The first thing he learned was that he’d be taking on both roles, of Walter and of David.
‘That was the first bit of information I got, actually. David is so curious. The interesting thing about playing him in Prometheus was the ego and sense of vanity and pride and that was kind of fun to play with.‘
When it came to playing Walter, he got himself into an entirely different headspace so he could embody a different persona completely.
‘I wanted Walter to be more Spock-like. More devoid of the human characteristics or emotional content that is programmed into David. I wanted him more like a blank canvas.‘
For the big moments where David and Walter come face to face; Michael said the process was interesting if you like the ‘technical side of things’. He went on to explain how they filmed that sequence and how he had to channel both characters.
‘It was interesting to shoot and pretty fun to do if you enjoy the technical side of things which I do. We did a continuous take where I would do the whole take as Walter and get the beats and the blocking with the double, who was excellent. He’d play either character off that. And then we’d block out David and hold that really tight.‘
When it comes to David and future Alien films, Michael isn’t giving it all away, and we’re glad he’s not. He did say he’s got a few nuggets, but he doesn’t press the issue, there’s no need to! Ridley’s doing incredible.
‘I don’t really ask Ridley too much. I get a few nuggets here and there, we’ll meet up for dinner and I’ll get a little bit more information. I don’t press him too much! He’s been doing great so far.‘
Have you seen Alien: Covenant yet? Will you be seeing it soon? Let us know.
‘…but I knew him’
