There are ELLE cover shoots with incredibly sexy men (remember David Beckham?). And then there are ELLE cover shoots where arguably the hottest man on the planet poses for the man with the pottiest mouth.

Yep, here is Michael Fassbender shot by David Bailey for a collector's edition ELLE cover for December. Bailey, a man who is most comfortable using the C-word to describe the people he likes, was even moved to describe Fass as 'what every man in his 30s would love to look like', while the actor wore , and . If you think the pics are good (and, frankly, who wouldn't?), you really should have been in the room. It was pretty filthy. But masses of fun.

Yet over a cooked breakfast in East London, Mr Fassbender proved himself disarmingly sweet and surprisingly chivalrous. In our interview he discusses the effect fame has had on his success rate with women ('It's not like I think I've become more charming or good-looking overnight'), and his man-crush on one Pharrell Williams (aka 'the coolest man on the planet, for sure'). He also did our writer a great service with regards to public facilities.

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Fassbender has worked with a host of huge stars, not least his co-stars in his jaw-dropping new film The Counselor: Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz. And they all love him. Javier Bardem called him an 'Acting beast' and X-Men co-star James McAvoy told us: 'There's something quite old-school about Michael. I love him dearly.' Add us to the fan club.

Buy the digital edition of December ELLE from Weds 30 Oct

See the trailer of Fassbender's film The Counselor, also starring ELLE cover star Cameron Diaz, here