Tarantino movies often share a number of unique characteristics that make them instantly distinguishable, including select actors who have become regulars in his projects.

These regulars include Samuel L. Jackson, Eli Roth, Michael Madsen, and Harvey Keitel, but Fassbender is not among them. After starring in Hunger (2008), the actor ed his first major franchise in 2011 with X-Men: First Class, in which he played a younger Magneto. Since then, he's appeared in projects like Prometheus (2012), 12 Years A Slave (2013), Steve Jobs (2015), and David Fincher's The Killer (2023). It's a 2009 collaboration with Tarantino, however, that remains one of his most memorable roles.

Michael Fassbender Thought He Messed Up His Inglourious Basterds Audition

The Actor Wanted An Entirely Different Role In The Tarantino Film

Fassbender recalls thinking that he fumbled his opportunity to star in Inglourious Basterds. Marking Tarantino's first and only World War II movie, Inglourious Basterds, which was a critical and commercial success, follows a group of Jewish-American soldiers and a French theater owner as they put separate plans into motion to kill Nazi leaders. Fassbender appears as Lt. Archie Hicox in what is now one of the movie's most memorable scenes, in which a tense standoff ensues between undercover Allied soldiers and a cunning Nazi commander.

During a recent interview with Business Insider, Fassbender reveals that he was originally hoping to audition for the role of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds, a part that ultimately went to Christoph Waltz and won him a Best ing Oscar. After putting all his prep time into Landa, Fassbender found out in the audition room that he'd actually be reading for Hicox instead, a part for which he hadn't rehearsed. Check out Fassbender's story below:

Originally, I wanted Landa! I had prepped about 27 hours of Landa. I was shooting 'Fish Tank' at the time, and my agent said 'They'd like you to look at Hicox as well.' And I was like, 'I'm not going to have time to do both.' I came into the room and Tarantino said, 'Okay, let's take a look at Hicox.' I said, 'Do you think I could read for Landa?' And he was like, 'I cast Landa on Tuesday.' I was like, 'Okay, let's read Hicox…'

Idid a cold reading of it basically, and he read the other parts, which was super surreal and kind of intimidating. But I just went for it and I was pretty sure I blew it. I called my parents straight away after I came out and I was like, 'I blew it. I messed it up.'

Speaking of his showstopping scene in the tavern basement, Fassbender singles out actor August Diehl, who played the villainous Gestapo Major Dieter Hellstrom, as "phenomenal." As Fassbender recalls:

"From day one in rehearsals, he was off-book and I was like, 'Okay, I better get my sh-t together. This guy's great.'"

Tarantino and Fassbender have not yet reunited for another film after working together on Inglourious Basterds.

Our Take On Fassbender's Inglourious Basterds Role

Hicox Gets One Of The Movie's Best Scenes

Though Hans Landa is unquestionably the juicest part in Inglourious Basterds (and one of Tarantino's most memorable characters), Fassbender certainly made a mark as Hicox. The bar standoff sequence has gone down as one of the best and most intense in Tarantino's entire filmography, and Fassbender is crucial to pulling the scene off. Hicox's unfortunate moment of realization after using the English hand gesture for "three" instead of the German one as he orders more beers might just be the most memorable scene from the entire movie.

It would have been interesting to see Fassbender's take on Landa, which likely would have been less playful and more serious. That being said, Waltz was undoubtedly the best choice for the role, and Fassbender ended up making quite a mark as Hicox. Clearly, all the pieces fell perfectly into place with Inglourious Basterds, making it one of Tarantino's best movies.

Source: Business Insider