Finally, an actor who is honest enough to admit that receiving an Oscar nod would not be the worst thing in the world. With two major movies coming out this year, our very own Michael Fassbender admitted to Sky News that receiving a nomination would in fact be 'the icing on the cake'.

Fassbender enters dark territory in both movies and it's widely believed that the roles that he has taken on are bona fide Oscar bait. In The Counselor he plays a lawyer who finds himself in the world of organised crime while in 12 Years a Slave, which sees him reunited with Shame director Steve McQueen, he plays an, ahem, morally corrupt slave owner.

We may soon see a lighter side to Michael though, since he went on to say that "I don't have a litmus test for the darkest role, I just like the script and story. I don't know why this is happening. It might be time to do a comedy."

Maybe he should have a word with Brendan O'Carroll to see if there would be room for him in Mrs Browns Boys D'Movie? It could certainly do with Fassbender's edge.

If you enjoy looking at photos of the Kerry man as much as we do (who doesn't?) check out our gallery below for which he was joined by his Counselor co-stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem and director Ridley Scott.