We failed to turn Michael off acting, say parents

Josef and Adele Fassbender may have raised a highly successful son, but they failed in one respect: they couldn’t dissuade him from becoming an actor.

The couple will be in Los Angeles tomorrow night hoping to watch Michael walk the red carpet and collect an Oscar for his part in 12 Years a Slave.

“We always tried to talk him out of it when he was younger, because it’s such an uncertain profession that depends very much on luck, who you meet and how you’re received,’’ recalled Mr Fassbender.