Michael Fassbender: Christian Bale Would Have Been "Perfect" to Play Steve Jobs

Bale was set to play the lead in Universal's 'Steve Jobs' before exiting in November.

Before Michael Fassbender was brought on board by director Danny Boyle to take the lead in Steve Jobs, Christian Bale was set to step into the late Apple founder's iconic sneakers.

Fassbender himself has suggested that Bale, who exited the project in November, would have been a great fit for the role.

"I thought to myself: Christian Bale is perfect, why isn’t he doing it?" the actor told The Hollywood Reporter while promoting the film in London. "I actually called him up and told him that myself."

While Fassbender admitted that he "doesn’t look anything like" Jobs, he doesn’t believe it’s detrimental to the film, which had its world premiere in Telluride to positive reviews.

"I think audiences accept things when you lay them out for them," he said. "So you see at the beginning of the film that I don’t look anything like him, so you go: ok, he doesn’t look anything like him, we can get over that now and watch the movie. Biopics can be very much about impersonation, and that kind of overtakes the story at times."

But when it came to the film’s third act, set before the iMac launch in 1998, Fassbender said that he was keen to go further and don Jobs’ iconic turtleneck.

"I wouldn’t say that I look like him, but there was more of a similarity there," he said. “So it kind of creeps up on the audience.”

Steve Jobs opens in the U.S. on Oct. 9.