Sebastian Stan Could’ve Pulled ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Co-star Josh Brolin’s Hilarious Trick After Big Hollywood Stars Turned Down Interview with Him
- Sebastian Stan revealed that publicists blocked actors from talking about 'The Apprentice' on Variety’s 'Actors on Actors'.
- Stan could’ve followed Josh Brolin, who creatively conducted a self-interview on the same show.
- Stan and director Ali Abbasi emphasize the importance of confronting uncomfortable truths.
Oftentimes, when politics gets involved with entertainment, things get complicated, especially in modern times. Sebastian Stan, popular among Marvel fans for portraying Bucky Barnes, recently found himself in such a situation while promoting his film.
In the new biographical film The Apprentice, the actor created some buzz in the industry for portraying Donald Trump. But what is even more interesting is how this role influenced his promotional efforts, especially one of the most anticipated actor-to-actor interviews in Hollywood.
How Sebastian Stan Could’ve Learned From Josh Brolin for Actors on Actors Interview
Recently at a screening of The Apprentice in Los Angeles, Sebastian Stan talked about his failed appearance on Variety’s Actors on Actors, the popular interview series that began in 2014 on PBS SoCal in which two actors interview each other about their latest projects and life in general.
In the screening, Stan revealed that he was invited by Variety for the interview, but he couldn’t appear on the show because no publicist allowed their actors to get involved in this and talk about The Apprentice. Stan said (via MaggieMinLA on X),
You know, I’ve got to do a lot of great things, and that’s not pointing at anyone specific. It was… we couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them, because [they were] too afraid to talk about this movie.
A similar incident happened to Josh Brolin when he was promoting the show Outer Range. When Brolin had a planned interview with Jeremy Renner on Variety’s Actors on Actors, Renner failed to show up at the last moment.
The entire interview was conducted by Brolin, where he was both the interviewer and interviewee. It generated a good bit of fun and became one of the memorable segments of the series. Stan could have followed his Avengers: Endgame co-star’s creative solution since who else would ask better promotional questions about portraying someone like Donald Trump than the actor himself.
The Apprentice, directed by Ali Abbasi, stars Stan alongside Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, Martin Donovan as Fred Trump, and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump. It’s a drama biographical film about Trump’s rise as a real estate businessman in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, with a primary focus on his associate Roy Cohn.
Sebastian Stan and The Apprentice Team Stand Behind Their Film
Stan doesn’t share the same nervousness as others who are reluctant to talk about the movie. He addressed that failure to talk about such issues means that such topics would eventually lead to bigger problems in society. He said in the LA screening,
And it’s like, that’s when I think we lose the situation. Because if it really becomes like that — fear or that discomfort to talk about this — then we’re really going to have a problem.
Stan is positive that people watching the film can benefit from information that has been provided to them about their choice of leaders. He recognizes people’s passion and emotion about the topics shown in the film, but above all, he emphasizes that understanding is the key to getting the message of the movie.
Director Ali Abbasi also supported the approach of the film. In an interview with TheWrap, he said,
It’s a story of how young Donald Trump was formed with the help of his mentor, Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), and how he sort of started to become the person we now know. But it’s also a story of a system, the depiction of the American system, the legal system, the inherent corruption in a system that allowed people like Roy Cohn to navigate freely and sort of pull the levers of power as they see fit.
The film has seen its fair share of controversies so far since it premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. There have been legal attempts to block and limit its release, and the movie also faced distribution struggles until it was bought by Briarcliff Entertainment.
The Apprentice is available to stream on Prime Video.
