You'll never guess who the man in the middle is so we won’t even make you try – it’s Michael Fassbender as you’ve never seen him, in character for his new role as the lead in a film called Frank, currently shooting in New Mexico.

That’s Maggie Gyllenhaal on one side of Fass, and fellow Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, son of Brendan, on the other. Frank, directed by Irishman Lenny Abrahamson, is a comedy loosely based on the life of English musician Chris Sievey, who also created a comic persona for himself by the name of Frank Sidebottom – complete with cartoonish face

Fassbender will appear with the funny face throughout the film, according to producer Ed Guiney.

"Michael is Michael after all, even with a fiberglass head on. He keeps the head on for all the scenes in the film. Everyone's just got used to it," Guiney told the Irish Independent from location in New Mexico, where filming started last Friday.

Entertainment.ie says Frank is about “a young wannabe musician called Jon (Gleeson) who finds himself a little out of his depth among a band of eccentric pop musicians led by the mysterious titular character, Frank (Fassbender).”

The film’s budget is pegged at €5 million, and production will eventually shift to Ireland. (Fassbender was raised in Killarney, Co. Kerry by his Irish mother and German dad). It’s due for release later this year.

Another star we’re keeping an eye on this year is Benedict Cumberbatch. The British actor already has legions of fans from his work o Sherlock, an update of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective series. This year he’ll co-star in one of th most anticipated movie of 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness. There’s been a lot of speculation that the character Cumberbatch is playing is Khan, the bad guy from the second tar Trek ovie in 1982. But the star has sai his character’s name is John Harrison.

Fans will also be able to hear (but not see) Cumberbatch in the upcoming sequel t The Hobbit. Cumberbatch voices the dragon Smaug.

more at the source about the other stars to watch