Michael Fassbender was in tune with new challenge in new film Song To Song

IGGY POP, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten).

All of the above are very famous names and yet they only have cameo parts in Song To Song, out this week in cinemas.

Described as an experimental romantic musical drama, the movie showcases the acting talents of Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara . . . the list goes on.

Michael plays music mogul Cook who finds himself constantly bickering with his business partner BV (Gosling) as they each work their way through a string of failed relationships.

All the actors on board have plenty of film experience, but they may perhaps have found this one a little more challenging, given that it involved improvisation?

“I think you try to take an attitude and to communicate physically, you have an objective or desire and try to communicate that to the person in the scene,” reveals Michael.

“You just keep things alive. But you also try to sit back and be comfortable with doing nothing.

“You could think of it a little bit like jazz, you’re devising a loose structure and aiming keep a ball up in the air.

“You sort of have this freedom to be uninhibited — it’s a very non-structured way of working in terms of the script that you use and how you go about filming and the lack of continuity.

“But it’s something that requires a lot of concentration, because so much of it is improvisational, and you have to be alive to so many things.

“It’s fun, but it’s challenging.

“Cook is such a manipulator, so I’d jiggle things up and try to provoke something and then do nothing. I was exhausted by the end of the week.”

Co-star Rooney agrees, saying: “It was kind of hard to know how to prepare because everything was so vague.

“I think the director described the story and the characters a bit, but there was very little information.”

Rooney’s character Faye is a guitarist, which meant that the actress had to get lessons to make her acting seem more authentic.

“I just tried to immerse myself in the world as much as I could,” she adds.

“Every day, you never knew what to expect. It was really exciting.”

Surprisingly, everything was so vague that Rooney claimed even she didn’t even know whether it was more of a love story or one of heartache.

“I haven’t seen it yet, so I don’t know,” she reveals.

“It could go either way. I think it’s a bit of both because one comes with the other.”

With Michael’s character being a music mogul, the soundtrack is very important in the film, hence the inclusion of those singers mentioned earlier.

It was something Michael found a little odd, hanging out with those “legends” and then, in character, not being very friendly.

“Yeah, it was pretty intimate,” he admits.

“First of all, you’re sitting paying your respects to these legends, and then you say: ‘I’m going to be a bit nasty’ in the scene, and try to stay in character.”

Song To Song is out from Friday, July 7.