In the new movie The Apprentice, Sebastian Stan transforms from Marvel hunk into real estate mogul-turned president Donald Trump. The film looks to explore the early years of the controversial convicted felon, focusing on the ’70s and ’80s as he rose up through the ranks to become one of New York City’s most infamous businessmen. In an in-depth interview with Variety, Stan says it’s a role that took a look of preparation, so much so that at one point he had more than 600 videos of Trump on his phone.
“I had 130 videos on his physicality on my phone, and 562 videos that I had pulled with pictures from different time periods — from the ’70s all the way to today — so I could pull out his speech patterns and try to improvise like him.”
Trump has long been known for going off script at his many rallies (does he even have a script?), to break into long-winded rants about fictional serial killers and how magnets don’t work underwater. They do, by the way. It’s that “improvisation” that Stan says made the role that much more challenging, because he never knew what director Ali Abbasi was going to throw at him.
“Ali could come in on the second take and say, ‘Why don’t you talk a little bit about the taxes and how you don’t want to pay?’ So I had to know what charities they were going to in 1983. Every night I would go home and try not only to prepare for the day that was coming, but also to prepare for where Ali was going to take this.”
How Sebastian Stan Didn’t Turn His Interpretation of Trump Into a Parody
When portraying a historical figure in a dramatic film, especially one who is still alive, it’s important for an actor to not take it too far and cross over into the realm of parody. We’ve seen the hilarious results it can produce thanks to Saturday Night Live and the many comics that have spoofed Trump in the past, including the late Phil Hartman, Alec Baldwin, and James Austin Johnson.
As Abbasi points out, Stan was able to nail Trump thanks to his copious amount of research and dedication to the film, which allowed him to find the perfect balance and ground his performance in reality.
“If he did 10% more of what he did, it would become Saturday Night Live. If he did 10% less, then he’s not conjuring that person. But here’s the thing about Sebastian: He’s very inspired by reality, by research. And that’s also the way I work; if you want to go to strange places, you need to get your baseline reality covered very well.”
Stan’s work seems to have paid off, as early reviews of the film have been kind to the actor, with many praising his ability to capture Trump’s cadence and mannerisms. You can see the results for yourself when The Apprentice opens nationwide on October 11 from Briarcliff Entertainment.
