Michael Fassbender has revealed that he and his girlfriend Alicia Vikander had on-screen chemistry "pretty much immediately" while filming their upcoming drama The Light Between Oceans.
The 39-year-old Irish actor and 27-year-old Swedish actress Vikander first met on set while shooting the emotionally-charged movie, which sees them play a married couple.
They have since embarked on a relationship which is closely guarded from the press.
Fassbender told Access Hollywood that he treasures and protects their "own private moments", but did say that they sparked off one another "pretty much immediately" while filming with director Derek Cianfrance.
The Kerry-raised actor joked about shooting love scenes with Vikander for the film, saying: "It's always awkward because there are people in the room, unless you're into that!
"It's always an awkward thing", he added. "You have to create an intimate moment in a non-intimate scenario."
Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in The Light Between Oceans
Vikander was quick to praise her co-star and boyfriend. "I got to work with the absolute one of the the best actors we have and that made it a lot more easy." she said.
The Light Between Oceans is based on M.L. Stedman's 2012 novel of the same name and tells the story of a lighthouse keeper (Fassbender) and his wife (Vikander) living off the coast of Western Australia after World War 1.
The couple, who are struggling with infertility, find a baby in an abandoned boat that washes ashore and secretly raise the child as their own.
