Entertainment News

Irish/German X-Men star Michael Fassbender gave himself a hard time as he "explored the realm of internet pornography" in the name of research for the upcoming film Shame.

It can be tough being a well-paid Hollywood actor if you take your job seriously.

Many method actors put themselves through the ring to ensure that they can truly feel emotional empathy with the character they're portraying. Daniel Day Lewis famously spent all his time on set in a wheelchair and in character during filming of My Left Foot.

And it paid off, he went on to win an Oscar for his authentic portrayal of cerebral palsy sufferer Christy Brown.

Now Michael Fassbender has revealed the lengths he's had to go to in preparation for his forthcoming role as a man addicted to online porn in Shame.

"I definitely explored the realm of it," the 34-year-old actor says.

"People can stay inside for 72 hours on end watching it. They can't have sex with their wives because they're so obsessed with it.

Addiction

"What's really interesting about it is that in the US alone, something like 24 million people claim to be sex addicts but the mental-health board hasn't recognised it as an addiction."

The Hunger, Inglorious Basterds and X-Men First Class star said he took the less-than-glamorous role in Shame because of its relevance to modern life (rather than because it gave an excuse to rub himself raw in front of a computer screen).

"It's very relevant to our time. Everything is immediate these days," he says.

"If you want something, turn on a computer and you've got it," he says

"It's all too easy to go somewhere, to eat something, to drink something, to f**k someone. It's all so easily available."