What principles guide your life?

Do not worry about what others think, treat others as I'd like to myself to be treated and live each day as if it were the last...

You treat each film in the same way?

Yes, I remember being in the makeup chair next to Jeff Daniels and he asked me what my next film would be and I said that X-Men: Apocalypse, and said: "That will be very easy for you, you can remember four lines of dialogue after memorizing pages and pages for this film." But the truth is that I don’t see it that way, each project has a different taste. I don’t follow the theory of method, but rather follow my own. Over the years I have developed a system to do my job. Usually I rely on the script, but when it comes to projects like X-Men, I begin to study comic books because I want to incorporate those elements to the story where most of the scenes are pure action. The Assassins’ Creed is the absolutely different thing because I also participated as a producer, so I have four years working on this project, developing the script, thinking about the cast and stunts. In terms of performance, to stand in front of the camera is relatively equal, regardless of the project. However, during filming, when I was coming back to my trailer I remember saying to Oscar Isaac (actor who also plays Apocalypse in X-Men), who was dressed all in blue and wearing a coat, "We're grownups and look how we look like." So, one has to engage with every character in the same way, because if you don’t believe it yourself, no one would.

Why you’re still involved in the franchise X-Men?

When the opportunity came to do my first X-Men, I was working in independent films, and the opportunity to make a more commercial film was on my horizon. They offered me several things, but I wanted something that would be a challenge. X-Men: First Class was, and that was the thing I liked the first movie. When I read the script, every character seemed attractive, especially Erik (Magneto). And then the experience did not disappoint me. I made great friends in that filming period and I had a great time. By this time all of them are like my family. The last film will be an exciting one, especially since the new team of teenagers and twentysomethings have joined in. I'm sure the fans will enjoy it. X-Men franchise has treated me very well; I happened to be in Brazil, someone approached me said, "Magneto". So it has provided me a very large group of fans and has also allowed to create my own production company, so I am very grateful.

And why you wanted to make a video game adaptation movie Assassin’s Creed?

I was offered a lot of money ... Seriously, I was a big fan of video games. I played a lot until 2000. But one day I was playing non-stop until 8am. When I finished, I closed my eyes and I could still see the game in my head. So I threw the stick away and decided I had to get away from them. But in the case of Assassin’s Creed it’s all different: years ago I had a meeting with the people from Ubisoft where we discussed the concept of the game and found it very interesting. The idea that we carry a DNA having the memory of our ancestors within us fascinated me. It was a good idea to make a great movie, but the idea that we react from that DNA even if we think we do things by instinct may even be scientifically plausible. My feeling was that it was possible to bring the audience more spectacular feast than the typical fantastic journey genre films, as Matrix did, for example.

To what extent Macbeth have helped you to portray Steve Jobs?

The truth is that it never occurred to me that one role can influence the other. When I finished filming Macbeth, the I left the cahacter and focused on Tom Sherbourne from Light Between Oceans. And when I finished filming, Tom went away and Steve Jobs came in. I disconnected it very quickly. However, I think with actors it’s the same way as with musicians: if you’re playing every day, you'll have a great workout.

At what point decided to become an actor?

The truth is I never had a choice. Bah!, actually, I was 17 and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I this to a man named Courtney Downey, whom I’m very grateful because I don’t know what would have become of me if he had not crossed my path. He came on a Wednesday at my high school, St. Brendan, and gave us a kind of theatrical classes. Emerson (my friend) and I - we decided to see what it was. At that time I played with the idea of being a musician, but I quickly realized I don’t have enough talent to do it.

What have you played?

Guitar. And I did it very badly. Was also singing; and this made it worse. However, when I participated in that class I found that I could express myself if I’d work hard and could make it my career. That was enough for me. Once I decided that was what I wanted to do I was always very determined and focused to do that. And as you can see, it hasn’t been done so badly...

Is it true that at the same school was Tom Hardy?

Yes, that's right. Tom came in first year when I was at third. We all played classics at the end of the year: he played in Romeo and Juliet, and I, curiously, Macbeth. We had to interpret these fragments in front of the whole school. I remember him because his was superb, and one could tell at once he has a special talent. I think the school officials also noted. But if I remember correctly, he soon left to go filming. I also remember that he was very confident, really cool, and had something special. It was interesting to see that talent at such an early stage.

What are your memories of that school?

It was an interesting place, but I also left shortly after Tom. These schools are very peculiar places, because you can isolate much of the world when you are there and act as if they are the center of the universe. And when you leave you realize that it was not. I learned a lot there and I'm very glad I went to that school, but it is also true that it could be very brutal at times. When I started there were 34 students and when left it was 18. When I went to the first class, everyone was terrified with the teachers and I could not understand what was happening. But it was there where I learned for the first time what my body is, actually, for better and worse: they asked me all the time what I was doing with my hands, where to put them, how they moved. That helped me to pay more attention and to understand my body as an instrument.