Steve McQueen – that’s the young British director not the old actor with a thing for cars – has had two previous collaborations with Michael Fassbender – Hunger and Shame – both of which have arguably been the finest performances of Fassbender’s career. Besides for proving him to be the envy of anorexics and porn stars everywhere, they were the roles that also really turned him into a household name.
Now the duo are back together again for Twelve Years a Slave, and this time it looks like McQueen is giving another immensely talented but criminally overlooked actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, his own moment to shine.
McQueen wrote the script for the film, based on the 1853 autobiography of Solomon Northrup. Twelve Years a Slave will follow Ejiofor as the lead character, a “free black man from upstate New York, who was abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.”
Besides for Ejiofor, Fassbender and Pitt, the film also co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano and Michael Kenneth Williams among others. In other words, one hell of a talented cast. Now we have our first look at that cast thanks to these six newly released images from USA Today.
Twelve Years a Slave will be set free into cinemas on December 27, 2013.
Last Updated: June 21, 2013
