Michael Fassbender On Shame: 'Getting Naked Was Essential'

Michael Fassbender has said getting naked on the set of Shame was "essential" for understanding his character.

The Irish star reunited with Hunger director Steve McQueen for the explicit film, in which he plays a sex addict.

He said of the film's controversial nude scenes: "People are going, 'Oh my God, you're naked! What's that going to do for your career?' I'm not a politician. My job is to facilitate characters. I'm a storyteller and that's it, end of story."

That's not to say he didn't feel embarrassed on set, however.

Fassbender admitted: "Of course, I don't feel comfortable parading around naked in what is essentially, at the beginning, a room full of strangers, but it had to be done. It was an essential part of getting inside the psyche.

"Besides, my imagination was much more devious than what was in the script!"

While the actor endured physical extremes playing a hunger striker in his previous movie with McQueen, he also insisted Shame was mentally distressing.

"I had to lose weight for Hunger, but I had a timetable to stick to. So it was like 'OK, I have to eat 600 calories today' and you just get through it.

"But Shame was pretty disturbing; the idea of what my character is about, the relationships, intimacy and how that's a difficult thing for some people."