10 - FASSBENDER TO STAR AS BOBBY SANDS

FASSBENDER TO STAR AS BOBBY SANDS

Actor MICHAEL FASSBENDER is undergoing a crash diet to play IRA prisoner BOBBY SANDS, who died during a hunger strike in 1981. The 300 star has already slimmed dramatically, and still has another 12 kilograms (26.4 pounds) to lose before shooting for the British-made Channel 4 film starts in the summer (07). Irishman Fassbender says, "I'm playing Bobby Sands. I'll probably have to lose another 26 pounds or so! I'll probably lose three pounds a week for eight to 10 weeks! But hopefully filming will only take a month." Sands was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. His hunger strike at Northern Ireland's Maze Prison made him a cult figure among Republican supporters - and he was elected a Member of Parliament while in prison, before his death.