Sebastian Stan is opening up about playing Donald Trump in the polarising movie The Apprentice.
Last year, the Emmy nominee played the future US president as a younger man in the Ali Abbasi movie, which explored the early years of Trump’s career in business in the 1970s and 80s.
After being nominated for a Golden Globe at this year’s ceremony, Sebastian is still among the favourites to land an Oscar nod for his performance as Trump, and recently paid a visit to Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast to discuss the role.
During the interview, the Pam & Tommy star admitted that making The Apprentice is something he considers “the hardest thing I’ve ever done”, for two major reasons.
He explained: “[It was hard] not just because of the complexities of playing Trump, but because of the reaction it provokes.”
As you’d expect with a movie about such a divisive public figure, The Apprentice wasn’t without its controversies, despite a somewhat positive reaction from critics.
Trump himself laid into the project in October, branding the film “cheap” and “disgusting”, while Sebastian has claimed that he struggled to find an actor to join him for Variety’s Actors On Actors series last year in the wake of the controversial film.
Sebastian has also been candid about the physical toll that being part of The Apprentice had on him while it was being made.
Joining Sebastian in the film were Borat’s Maria Bakalova as Trump’s first wife Ivana, while Succession actor Jeremy Strong portrayed his business mentor, Roy Cohn.