Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender are a public couple.
She kissed him, after all, beforeaccepting her Oscar forThe Danish Girllast February.
But theyll never be accused of oversharing.
Credit: Davi Russo
That still includes the experience that brought them together.
Adapted from the 2012 novel by Australian writer M.L.
ButThe Light Between Oceanswas filmed before either of those movies.
RICHARD PHIBBS for EW
Does it feel like a long time ago?
But normally the experience flows back to you as soon as you reunite with your friends.
We just saw Derek [Cianfrance], who I hadnt seen for a couple of months.
We have a lot of experiences and memories to go back to.
Michael, Derek said that he basically wrote the part with you in mind.
MICHAEL FASSBENDER:Thats nice, yeah.
Well, I guess he got the part off the book, then maybe thought of me.
I feel very flattered because Im very lucky to get to play a character like Tom.
I really like Tom.
That character is someone I would aspire to be.
You had the book but were there any other references you were looking at for Tom?
With the mustache, theres a sort of Clark Gable classicalness to him.
FASSBENDER:Hmm, well we were looking at pictures.
VIKANDER:Of lighthouse keepers.
FASSBENDER:Yeah, of lighthouse keepers.
Derek had sent some pictures, and there were a couple of them that had mustaches in there.
And its funny, the Clark Cable thing.
I thought ofGone with the Wind.
We never see any flashbacks, but the character is obviously haunted by the war.
FASSBENDER:Toms lived a whole other film before we pick him up.
And what he must have gone through in the fields of France.
It was a very turbulent time in history, post-World War I.
How that great war affected so many small towns all over the world.
Theres a clockwork emotional efficiency in the story.
While its tremendously sad, the film ends, and theres a sense of uplift.
FASSBENDER:Yeah, hopefully.
Thats definitely what everyone was aiming for, including Stedman, if I may speak for her.
VIKANDER:And its also something with Dereks films.
And when both films end, I totally think that these lives continue on.
Were you drawn to the universality of the story?
VIKANDER:Yeah, it got me.
Its like theres a window thats opened up and I got to peek in.
But everyone surrounding you has gone through similar things.
The search for love or the desire to have a family or the loss of a child.
FASSBENDER:Or healing.
Weve all experienced how time heals.
And you go on and life continues.
And we come into these lives as theyre in flux.
Do you think the story has any current political relevance?
Its such a terrifying thing when mobs of people get together and persecute foreigners.
And what happens to him is he dies.
And this is something were dealing with a hundred years later.
This problem with migrants being able to integrate into societies and the dangers they face are very real.
Its very relevant to today.
And he said he found that in you.
VIKANDER:Um, well.
You just mentioned three of the people that inspire me to act.
To make a film like this, I couldnt have done this without the people involved.
That shows also what a filmmaker is bringing the right group together but also bringing out performances.
I felt like I had forgotten myself that I was watching actors, which is not an easy thing.
You guys shot in a remote part of New Zealand.
What was it like making a movie in that environment?
VIKANDER:On the first day of filming I got breathless.
I was kind of claustrophobic by the greatness of nature.
FASSBENDER:When the wind picks up, its pretty exhilarating and maddening.
In the story, the previous lighthouse keeper goes nuts and kills himself.
That struck home to me.
And I was like, Wow.
VIKANDER:I felt so much a part of the elements of nature out there.
I kind of wanted Mother Nature to just calm down.
One of the nights the storm hit, I thought that my trailer might just pitch over any second.
It did jump a bit.
I got quite scared.
Did acting in the elements make things more difficult?
FASSBENDER:Easier, actually.
VIKANDER:Like the scene when the storm is coming and you started to collect the sheep.
FASSBENDER:The goats.
VIKANDER:The goats, sorry.
FASSBENDER:Or was it sheep?
I just remember those goats and those crazy chickens.
We were practically flying off those lighthouse stairs.
It was pretty nuts.
So that would have, obviously, not been great.
Arkapaw has such an eye.
The movie looks fantastic.
Youve worked with him a couple times, Michael?
Hes an artist, definitely.
A very special talent.
Derek kept going, Youre making my movie too beautiful, Adam!
Hes got a great eye, and on all his works,True Detective,Top of the Lake.
Hes a formidable force, thats for sure.
The movie is a wrenching piece of drama for both of you, especially Alicia.
What was the hardest scene to film?
The second miscarriage is devastating.
VIKANDER:That was the scene I was most worried about, yeah.
I think Ive played a mother six times.
So I asked a lot of women, to verify we told that scene with truth.
FASSBENDER:Hes got absolute loyalty.
Everythings on a knifes edge, and hes concerned for her well-being.
Hes kind of a quiet, passive man for an actor like you to play.
FASSBENDER:His principles are strong.
Hes an honorable man.
Hes got dignity and stoicism and principles.
If there were more people like him in the world, it would be a better place.
There is an element of separation there.
If Im playing a murderer, I dont go out and start murdering people.
VIKANDER:And I think weve made a clear statement that we keep certain things just between us.
It was very easy to unite, but thats quite personal.
And I respect that.
Im not interested in asking all about your personal lives.
VIKANDER:[Laughing] Sure!
FASSBENDER:[Laughing] Sure, buddy!
But heres what Im interested in.
Youve really managed to keep your private lives private.
A lot of people in the spotlight dont.
FASSBENDER:But thats other people.
Each to their own.
Thats the impulse in your fans to know more about your relationship.
FASSBENDER:I might have been curious about actors lives when I was growing up.
Were all curious about a lot of things.
But my curiosity didnt obligate them to tell me.
Then youre just watching a brand, as opposed to an actor.
But for me, that was the same as the stories I saw up on the movie screen.
Thats what I mean I love the mystery behind it all.
The actors I looked up to when I was a teenager, they all just disappeared into different characters.
Who were the actors that you looked up to?
FASSBENDER:All the usual suspects.
Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Brando, John Cazale.
Yeah, I dont think of Hackman or Pacino and wonder about their personal lives.
FASSBENDER:It was a different time.
Nowadays of course everybodys got phones and cameras.
VIKANDER:Even people who dont have the jobs we do.
Ive been asked a lot of questions because Im not on social media.
And that was before I was really in films.
And I know it involves a lot of other people who are not in the public eye.
But its a pressure that you kind of have to do it.
If you like it, then its great.
Thats just the way were moving ahead.
But I think you’re gonna wanna do what feels right.
Do either of you read reviews of your movies?
FASSBENDER:Unfortunately, yes.
Usually you just remember the negative ones.
VIKANDER:Yep, again, its just human nature.
Theres an Ingmar Bergman movie calledShame, funny enough.
Something about two of them reminds me of you two.
FASSBENDER:Well, maybe thats because the story exists in such a primal place.
Like I say, ordinary people dealing with real-life tragedies.
How many people have this sort of scenario touched?
Trying to have a family, and theyre having miscarriage after miscarriage.
It struck me as a very real problem at a time when a lot of films are really fantastical.
Youve been in some of those.
FASSBENDER:Yeah, Ive been in a lot of those.
But this was just something that was relatable all over the world.
There wasnt some villain and good guys.
The fact that I hadnt played somebody like this very much interested me in doing it.
Its a difficult thing as an actor not to repeat ones self.
Alicia, do you think that Isabel stayed with you, some echo or shadow of her?
VIKANDER:Well I guess so because shes an imagination of something Ive had in my head.
I get excited and start forming it in my head.
And I bring with me the experience of shooting the film more than the character staying within me.
I create her and I then I leave her.
Do you consider yourself a method actor?
VIKANDER:No, I dont.
It was a big emotional journey.
So a lot was about stepping out in between.
Not just of the film, but in between takes and on days off.
Go play some music or take a nice nap.
Whats the first thing that comes to mind about the experience of making it?
VIKANDER:Its what Derek said when I first met him.
I was up for that challenge.
And in exchange, he said, Im going to give you some cool experiences.
And thats what he did.
Summer camp is something Ive used to explain filmmaking to friends and family.
Its the best feeling when you all have shared this experience together.
FASSBENDER:You have to come together very quickly.
Become a family, work together, and then you disband.
Thats a very specific, unusual thing to this business.
And I can be a very powerful thing as well.
VIKANDER:I hope I get a bit of that from each job and experience.
I didnt go to theater school.
So Ive been extremely privileged.
Ive had the chance to work with some really good filmmakers.
What are you favorite performances of each others?
I was taken aback by how much I believed those characters.
They felt so real.
From then on, I said, That is one of the smartest, most surprising actors working.
And Michael, what have you admired in Alicias career?
It reminded me of when I was trying to break through and get opportunities.
It was so visceral, and it was pretty amazing to behold in her.
I wasnt familiar with her work.
But you’re free to tell immediately when somebody has all the goods and more.
That was a real understanding.
What she did inThe Danish Girl[2015] was so fresh and modern.
The way she moved physically, that comes from her dance background, its very clear to me.
Her dance background, I would think, also contributed to the success ofEx Machina.
FASSBENDER:InEx Machina[2015], its all over that.
Her specificity and attention to detail is extraordinary.
VIKANDER:Oh, thank you.
She makes me a better robot.
Do you want to work with each other again?
FASSBENDER:Yeah hopefully, down the line.
At the moment Im not looking to do anything really.
VIKANDER:[Laughing] Do you need some time off?
