Hollywood Reporter – Director Ali Abbasi, writer Gabriel Sherman and actors Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong discuss their hot-button Trump origin story that had its North American premiere on Saturday night.
On Sunday morning, just hours after the North American premiere of The Apprentice — a film about the relationship between Donald Trump and his mentor Roy Cohn that everyone in the film community has been talking about for months — the principal creators of the film sat down with The Hollywood Reporter for their first stateside interview about the project. Director Ali Abbasi, writer Gabriel Sherman and stars Sebastian Stan (Trump) and Jeremy Strong (Cohn), seated alongside each other on a giant sofa in a Telluride hotel suite, were still giddy about the fact that The Apprentice had finally made it to America and had been very warmly received, because neither of those outcomes were assured.
Indeed, in the three months since the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Festival, backers of the film faced legal threats from Trump campaign — and resistance from the principal financial backer of the film, a Trump ally who was displeased with its portrayal of the man — that threatened to keep it from ever being seen again. It was not until Friday morning that — as THR was the first to report — a deal was reached through which Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment and James Shani’s Rich Spirit bought out that financier’s interest in the film, paving the way for a U.S. theatrical release starting on Oct. 11, less than a month before the presidential election, and, more immediately, for screenings at Telluride.
A transcript of the converation with Abbasi, Sherman, Stan and Strong, lightly edited for clarity and brevity, appears below.
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