He could be forgiven for a certain amount of swagger. But though he has a cheeky twinkle in his eye in person, Fassbender is also engaging, open, thoughtful and quick to laugh – passionate about his job but aware of its oddities.

While he found Shame a fascinating subject matter, he’s aware that people will be curious about his getting naked and the uncompromising sex scenes (“You’re bollock-naked, it’s awkward,” he admits).

He loved Cronenberg’s “intelligent introspection” but understands he’ll be asked about what it is like to work with Keira Knightley. Is honest about his ambitions to make a blockbuster to expand his audience reach, yet hasn’t moved to Hollywood and isn’t too starry to get excited about his dinner (“Ooh, what are we having?” he asks enthusiastically when informed it’s lunchtime by a publicist).