Recently, Sebastian Stan and director Ali Abbasi attended the screening of their movie The Apprentice in Los Angeles. During a media interaction, Stan revealed that he had been invited to Variety's 'Actors on Actors' interviews due to his strong performance in the film. However, he chose not to attend after learning that no other actors would be willing to discuss his movie, given his portrayal of US President Donald Trump in the controversial biopic. ‘The Apprentice’: Indian Censor Board Cuts Down Nudity, Sexual Assault Scene in Sebastian Stan’s Biopic of Donald Trump.

Stan, who will soon reprise his role as Bucky/Winter Soldier in Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, told the audience, "I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie. So I couldn’t do it."

He continued, "I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of great things, and that’s not directed at anyone specific. We couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them because the actors were too afraid to talk about this movie."

Watch Sebastian Stan Discuss the Incident Here:

Variety’s 'Actors on Actors' series pairs two actors, each of whom gave outstanding performances that year, to discuss their respective films and the aspects they admired in each other's work. Stan received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Donald Trump in The Apprentice, which charts the rise of the business mogul from a novice hotelier to a manipulative and calculating presidential candidate. ‘The Apprentice’ Movie Review: Sebastian Stan’s Compelling Performance As Young Donald Trump Wows Critics in Ali Abbasi’s Film.

Although the movie was released in the USA before the 2024 US Presidential Elections, it failed to perform well at the box office. It sparked controversy, particularly for its depiction of Trump's alleged sexual assault of his late wife Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova), as well as its portrayal of his liposuction and scalp-reduction surgeries. The movie also stars Jeremy Strong as the late Roy Cohn, a lawyer and an influential political fixer who helped Trump in his rise as a tycoon but later died of AIDS-related complications.

During his campaign before the elections, Trump labelled the film as propaganda, calling it a "defamatory, politically disgusting hatchet job."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 20, 2024 04:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).