ScreenRant.com — We spoke with Stan about his role in Destroyer and how he plays an influential role in Erin’s past, while also threading into the emotional chaos of her present. He revealed what sort of one-on-one research he conducted with real-life undercover detectives to prepare for the role, what it was like working alongside Nicole Kidman, and even how his character differs from – but also relates to – Bucky Barnes in the MCU.

What sort of research is necessary to get into the mind of someone like Chris? Were there any real-life undercover stories that stood out before filming? Or did you prefer to rely more on Karyn’s direction and the script?

BusinessInsider.com — Business Insider talked to Stan about that, the steps he took to get in the role for “Destroyer,” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

Jason Guerrasio: Were you as shocked to see how Nicole looks in the present day “Destroyer” footage as we were when that still of the movie came out?

Sebastian Stan: Yeah. I didn’t have any scenes where she transformed. I didn’t experience that firsthand. I only saw that photo once on the internet. It’s really impressive. You are always inspired by those things. And now that we are doing press it’s fascinating to listen to Nicole talk about her process and finding her way into the character. The whole thing to me is a science project. Not one choice wasn’t well thought out. Those are my favorite kind of roles, when you can see someone extremely recognizable and you lose them in the role.

Guerrasio: Well, how was your process for this? You also had to get into a certain mindset.

Stan: On a much smaller scale than her, but it was a little similar. The great thing about the script is it didn’t spell out who these people were. It didn’t tell you much about where they came from or what their lives were outside of the job. So it allowed me to build a whole backstory on my own based on what the guy was doing in the story. Figuring out what kind of guy would lose himself in this scenario.

Guerrasio: Does that include going back and watching old cop movies?

Stan: On something like this you get a good excuse to go back and revisit projects that are inspiring. And I also met with an FBI agent in New York who is a family friend and was able to go through the script with him. That was really helpful because I really wanted to understand what it takes to become an undercover agent and what sort of training you would need. A lot of these guys sometimes have military training, other times they have training on the street. That was one of the decisions I was making with my guy. Ultimately he’s somebody who is more at home while on the job rather than his real life. That’s how it appeared to me. So I kind of created this backstory that he had a bad history with the law when he was younger and then wanting more structure in his life decided to join this line of work using his experience from his past. [“Destroyer” director] Karyn [Kusama] suggested I shave my head and we talked about the tattoos and finding a look for the guy. That was exciting, too.

Guerrasio: How you all play off each other in this movie is one of the thrills. Do things get competitive on set between actors on a movie as intense as this? Will seeing an actor really bringing it across from you make you pick up your game?

Stan: It happens on set. It happens in a way that can be healthy for the movie, and it can also happen in a way that’s not healthy for the movie. We did not have that on this. And I think it’s because you have good actors. This cast, the work speaks for itself. But when it’s an intense scene some of us may keep our distance, but that’s a level of respect. You’re always coming from a level of honoring the other person and their process.

Guerrasio: This is the kind of story that’s not told in movie form anymore. These crime thrillers are more and more finding their way to TV. So how bad did you want this role because on the movie side it’s becoming more rare to do.

Stan: I wanted it very badly. I had done “I, Tonya,” and that was a great experience and I loved every minute of it. I wanted to find a collaborative effort similar to that. But I really thought I wasn’t going to find it. Then I found it with this. I wanted to be a part of it because I respected Karyn and Nicole and I just knew this was going to be a very specific movie.

Guerrasio: You’ve done some great supporting roles, are you gunning for lead actor parts?

Stan: Always. There were a couple of things that almost came my way that would have been great. The opportunity is there. I’m much more interested right now in working with a great director and on a great script and that’s been a priority for me. But I’m looking all the time. Down the line I want to be remembered for being a part of specific works and visions of directors rather than a group of characters. I’m still figuring that out.

Guerrasio: Have to throw out some Bucky questions before I go. (Note: This interview was conducted before the “Avengers: Endgame” trailer was released.) Have you wrapped all your stuff on “Avengers 4”?

Stan: I haven’t worked on anything since two years ago, so no. My character died in the last film. [laughs]

Guerrasio: Ok? How about this one: Are the reports true that you and Anthony Mackie are going to team up for a Winter Soldier/Falcon limited series on Disney+?

Stan: Anthony Mackie and I are going to try to revive “Beverly Hills Cop.” We’re trying to get Eddie Murphy, but he’s not calling us back. It’s been difficult, but hey, you have to keep trying, right?

Guerrasio: I’m getting nowhere with you, am I?

Stan: [laughs]

ETOnline.com — “At some point, I’ve got to ask you about some of your guilty pleasures out there,” Sebastian Stan says off-hand to his Destroyer director, Karyn Kusama. “Because in my head, I feel like you’re watching, like, super f–king amazing horror projects…”

Though Kusama may be best known for her own horror films, including the “really disturbing in a great way” (as Stan put it) The Invitation and the campy Megan Fox cult classic Jennifer’s Body, her tastes are hardly confined to the genre; one of her early films was the Charlize Theron sci-fi spy action flick Æon Flux. “I don’t have guilty pleasures,” she shrugs. “I think Point Break is a masterpiece. I legitimately think it’s a masterpiece.” In fact, her latest film is most like the latter, a pulpy detective drama about LAPD officer Erin Bell (a bewigged Nicole Kidman), who goes undercover to investigate a gang of bank robbers with her partner, Chris (Stan).

(For his part, on the topic of guilty pleasures, Stan shared, “I was working out today and because of this thing with a Boston accent that I’ve been looking up, I ended up watching the Housewives of Boston and I was like, Oh, my God, this is so insane!“) (I pointed out there is no Real Housewives of Boston.)

With Destroyer opening in select theaters on Christmas Day, Kusama and Stan sat down with ET to discuss leaving their comfort zones, what it took to make Kidman look like a meth addict and how hot Stan looks covered in tattoos.

ET: Karyn, you’ve worked in so many different genres — you did sci-fi early on and then moved into horror and television. This feels like something new. What was it about this story that called out to you?

Karyn Kusama: A couple of things. Practically, I was excited to make a movie in L.A., which is my home and I have a family here and I collaborate with my husband, who was one of the writers of the script. I have a dog! [Laughs.] I felt like it was a nice way to be committing to working in my hometown — which a lot of that TV that you mentioned doesn’t allow me to do. I was [also] really drawn to this labyrinthine journey that this very compelling character makes, where we discover her capacity for love, her capacity to make huge mistakes that haunt her for the rest of her life and her capacity to take some responsibility for those mistakes. In today’s times, that’s an interesting thing to watch a person decide to do.

What put this guy [Stan] on your radar?

Sebastian Stan:Our agents.

KK: Our agents, but also, you have a lot of nice friends.

SS: Oh, good!

KK: No, but you do. You have a lot of nice friends that I think are nice people and good actors, so when your name came up, I’d be like, “Oh, that’s cool.” And then I watched I, Tonya, and I felt like, that’s so interesting to see a guy who in real life, frankly, has a leading man vibe and leading man looks — in a great way, not holding it against you. You’re a very handsome dude — but to see you play a character who was capable of so much smallness and shame and ugliness, I just thought, “My God, that takes bravery.” After our first Skype session, I was like, let’s just figure out how we’re going to work together.

Had you read the script by then?

SS: I had read the script and then we had a Skype session about it. I just love that it felt like you were never really figuring out entirely what was happening or who these people were. It didn’t explain anything, it just kind of–

KK: Put you in their lives.

SS: Yeah, and you’re there as a witness and it’s as if you’re walking by and you’re turning and you’re seeing that scene happen. That felt very real to me. I always feel like, as an actor, you’re always looking in the writing for rhythms, and those scenes were written a certain way. It’s a very direct, frank nature that they have with each other, at least in the scenes that I was involved with Nicole. And I was like, here’s an opportunity to play a completely different character by not doing anything. By almost just letting–

KK: By not indicating anything about the character. By just being, they told so much story.

SS: Exactly. And I just knew it was going to be a very special movie. The idea of protagonist and antagonist was always flipped around here, and I think that in life, good people do bad things and bad people sometimes end up doing a good thing for that moment, or whatever. This movie was so straightforward about that. And to have a female character that had no excuse for anything in a way that didn’t apologize but also, you understood where she was coming from, because all the flaws were so… Nobody shied away from any of that. And then you get Nicole to do it and then you’re like, “All right, well, now it’s going to be a whole other thing!” [Laughs.] Continue reading