Michael Fassbender has only been acting in films and television for 11 years, but now he’s one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Born and raised in Ireland, but trained at the Drama Centre in North London, Fassbender’s first major role was on the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg miniseries Band of Brothers in 2001, and between 2001 and 2006, his work was entirely on television, with appearances on TV series such as Hearts and Bones, NCS Manhunt, Murphy’s Law, and Hex making up the bulk of his resume during that time. In 2006, he played his first film role in Zack Snyder’s movie 300, and since then he’s just been getting more and more famous. In 2008, he received much acclaim for his role in the Steve McQueen-directed film Hunger, in 2009 he had a lead role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, in 2010 he starred in Neil Marshall’s Centurion, and in 2011 he worked with Matthew Vaughn, David Cronenberg, Steve McQueen (again), and Steven Soderbergh in the films X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method, Shame, and Haywire. This year he’s appearing in the wildly anticipated Ridley Scott film Prometheus, and I think it’s safe to say that Fassbender is set to be a star for the rest of his life. He turns 35 today.