Ridley Scott's Prometheus has managed to maintain an air of mystery even as we've gradually learned more about the plot. One thing we do know about the kinda-sorta-maybe Alien prequel is that Michael Fassbender will be playing an android. Considering the franchise's long history with artificial humanoids -- Ian Holm's Ash, Lance Henriksen's Bishop, and even Winona Ryder's Call -- you'd think it might be a no-brainer that Fassbender would have revisited those earlier films before deciding how to play his own android character. In a new interview with MTV News, however, the actor says he instead turned to another classic android flick -- Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

It makes sense, in a way. While the characters of Ash and Bishop are unforgettable, the core of Blade Runner is very much about what it means to be "human," and whether an artificial being can measure up to that standard and thus be worthy of the same respect and consideration as us fleshy types. Plus, it's not like Fassbender went off into some other director's interpretation of androids. He's keeping it within the Ridley Scott family. Nor does this mean he wasn't keeping his Alien-franchise precursors in mind while shooting. "Of course, they're in there," said Fassbender of Holm's and Henriksen's performances. "I can remember them from when I've seen the films before, but I sort of went a different way."

Fassbender also mentioned another influence on his performance, and I'm pretty sure this isn't one anybody could have guessed. He told MTV News that one of his first inspirations for his character was Olympic diver Greg Louganis. You read that right. What sort of influence could a swimmer possibly have on a futuristic android? According to Fassbender, "I figured that I'd sort of base my physicality roughly around him, and then it kind of went from there."

Yeah, I still don't know what the hell that means either. Maybe his android will accidentally hit his head on something at some point? We'll have to wait until Prometheus hits theaters on June 8th, 2012, to find out.