If Sebastian Stan has made a name for himself in Hollywood by working in a certain register of good-looking leading men – be it as an elegant fan favorite in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or as a hot cannibal in the streaming hit Fresh—his work in two bold indie films this fall confirms that there is more to him than meets the eye. In the opening act of Aaron Schimbergis darkly comic Another man (in theaters Friday at A24), Stan is completely unrecognizable. He plays an aspiring actor who lives with neurofibromatosis until he undergoes experimental facial reconstruction surgery that makes him look a lot like, well, Sebastian Stan. The film premiered at Sundance before screening in Berlin, where Stan won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
A few months later at the Cannes Film Festival The Apprentice Premiere. In this energetic film directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Vanity Fair Special Contributor Gabriel Sherman, We find Stan as a young Donald Trump. Focused on Trump’s relationship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Stark), the biopic sees Stan initially subtly embody the real estate mogul turned political lightning rod before adopting the vocal tics, catchphrases and maniacal swagger that have come to define him. It’s a smart, character-driven approach that sees Stan gradually shed any trace of himself. (After a long battle for a U.S. distributor, the film was acquired by Briarcliff Entertainment and will be released on October 11, just before the presidential election.)
This is the kind of delicate, challenging work that Stan has wanted to do for years – but as he tells me for this week Little golden men Interview (listen or read below) he revealed that his clean image in Hollywood prevented him from getting the chance. He got a taste of it when Craig Gillespie cast him in 2018 in I, Tonyaas Tonya Harding‘s violent ex-husband; he received an Emmy nomination for his unpredictable role as Tommy Lee in 2022 I’m Pam and Tommy. But the fact that he’s directed two films that would surely be controversial with such daring performances feels like a turning point. Judging by our conversation, he’s prepared for any controversy that comes his way. In fact, he seems to welcome it.
Vanity Fair: Let’s talk a little about the makeup chair and your transformation on Another man. From what I understand, you started very early every day. Have you ever experienced something like this, a complete facial transformation?
Sebastian Stan: No, no. That was definitely a first for me, at least to that extent. And it really impacted everything else: my body, my physicality, my perception of the world, the world’s perception of me walking around New York as Edward. Because we were so pressed for time – not only with a very, very short shoot of 22 days, still in Manhattan during COVID, but also because our makeup artist was working two jobs at once – I was able to get in the makeup chair with him earlier than our office hours and then had four or five hours to myself in the city to walk around before I got to set.
How did people react when you walked through New York?
Especially in extremes. And by that I mean either someone reacted immediately, maybe nudged their friend – and not in a very casual way – or pointed, or yelled, “Oh, shit.” Or maybe took a photo. Or it was the exact opposite and they completely ignored that I was there. I remember waiting at a stop sign for the light to change. I was surrounded by people and I kind of turned slightly toward them, and they just looked ahead as if I didn’t exist.
Another man is a metatext in many ways. It’s about how an actor wants to be seen. I’m curious if you connected to it in that respect.
The only thing I’ve drawn on in terms of my own life is the invasion of my privacy that I experience on a daily basis – and not just me, but the people around me, like my family or even my dentist. When I spoke to Aaron and Adam about how I would try to understand that experience, they suggested this: I should grapple with the idea of being public property. I understood that because when you’re constantly being filmed or constantly being written about and you’re helpless in some ways in the face of that, you just accept it as part of the choices you’ve made. But it’s not necessarily something you deserve.
