Irish actor Michael Fassbender and his “Jane Eyre” co-star Mia Wasikowska stepped out in New York on Wednesday night for a preview screening of the new film ‘Jane Eyre,’ which opened yesterday.

Cary Fukunaga is the director behind the latest remake of this classic tale.

Fassbender is receiving rave reviews in his role as Edward Rochester in “Jane Eyre.”

“His Rochester, greyhound lean, with a crooked, cynical smile set in an angular jaw, is very plausibly a thinking girl’s half-inappropriate crush object,” said New York Times critic A.O. Scott.

Other critics have described the new film as “fresh” and “vital.”

“Fassbender and Fukunaga pulled off the unthinkable -- an adaptation of Jane Eyre that makes the story feel fresh and vital again,” said Cinemablend.com

Fassbender’s talent has attracted notice in recent years, with roles such as World War II spy Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.”  This coming year he also features in “X-Men: First Class.”

Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Germany but moved to Ireland when he was two years old. His Irish mother, Adele, is a native of Larne, County Antrim, and his father, Josef Fassbender, is German.

According to Fassbender's "family lore," his mother is the great-great-niece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence. When he was two years old, his parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, where they ran West End House, a restaurant (his father is a chef).

He attended St. Brendan's, Killarney  and the Drama Centre London. Fassbender speaks fluent German.