Sebastian Stan, who portrays Donald Trump in the biographical movie The Apprentice, appeared at a screening of the movie alongside its director Ali Abbasi. He revealed that he was asked to appear on Variety’s Actors on Actors but couldn’t find someone to partner with because they “were too afraid” to talk about the movie.
Sebastian Stan says others ‘were too afraid’ to talk about Donald Trump on Variety’s Actors on Actors
Sebastian Stan disclosed that he couldn’t “get past the publicists” to ask actors to pair up with him for an episode of Variety’s Actors on Actors after The Apprentice. “I had an offer to do Variety’s Actors on Actors this Friday, and I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me, because they were too afraid to to go and talk about this movie. So I couldn’t do it,” he said.
The MCU actor underscored that he didn’t want to “point a finger at anybody,” before adding, “It was… we couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them, because [they were] too afraid to talk about this movie.”
According to Stan, this is when the “situation” is lost. “Because if it really becomes like that — fear or that discomfort to talk about this — then we’re really going to have a problem,” he elaborated.
Stan cited a New York Times op-ed by Carlos Lozada and argued, “We have to stop pretending that Trump is not one of us. You know and that’s a really difficult thing to deal with at the moment. And I understand that the emotions are very high.”
The Golden Globe nominee continued, “But I think that’s the only way you’re going to grasp this film. All it’s saying is you cannot keep casting this person aside, especially after they get the popular vote. Should we not give this a closer look and try to understand what it is about this person that’s even driving that?”
Stan’s comment comes after actress Rachel Zegler issued a public apology for a remark she made about Trump’s re-election as the U.S. President. Notably, The Apprentice premiered at Cannes this year before debuting in the U.S. on October 11, 2024.