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Sebastian Talks Stunts and Training for ‘Civil War’ with Philly.com

As Captain America’s best friend Bucky – and as the subsequently brainwashed-by-the-Soviets-to-be-an-assassin-Winter Soldier – Sebastian Stan has been a key character in what is now an iconic trilogy.

With the third installment, Civil War, he is a primary cause of the, uh, civil war, led on opposite sides by Iron Man and the red, white and blue Avenger.

“The appeal is simple,” Stan said at a recent Marvel press event. “It’s a challenge.

“Every scene the Russos [Joe and Anthony, the film’s directors] and I would get together and go, ‘Where is he now? Does he remember this? Does he not? Did he remember that he might have committed that crime or not? So there’s a lot of fun questions with how to play it.

“We saw in the first movie – that’s the [real] guy. Then, this is what happened to him in the second movie and this movie is, ‘How does he live with it now?'”

Stan’s Bucky is in fights with at least 10 characters during the course of the film and he says it was a challenge with the Russos to make each fight distinctive.

“It’s like a dance,” Stan said. Plus, “we just had an amazing stunt team. These guys come from places like Ip Man and The Raid and all those awesome Asian films. So, it’s just a lot of repetition over and over.

“It’s like ballet.”

Stan said there was additional excitement in the stunt work because he wasn’t wearing a mask.

“I was like ‘the audience is going to see it’s me,’ so I was determined to do as much of [the action scenes] as I could, to the point where I was a pain in the ass to them – but I didn’t care, because I can sit here and tell you that I’ve done 90 percent of those fight scenes. I was even on the motorcycle.” Continue reading

Los Angeles Times: With ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ Sebastian Stan crosses over from parts unknown

a child, Sebastian Stan occupied more countries than most people do houses. At the age of 8, he moved from his native Romania to Vienna, and then, four years later, to New York.

Now 33, Stan doesn’t think all that dislocation was always healthy. But it may have given him a certain psychological edge in understanding characters who slip from one guise to another.

“It was hard. You’re inhabiting different worlds, speaking different languages,” Stan said in an interview recently. “But it helped me in a way. When you’re young you just want to fit in. And when you’re older you realize that what it really did was make you OK with feeling different.”

Stan is decidedly a man caught between two worlds in Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Captain America: Civil War.” The new and well-reviewed superhero movie, which begins its U.S. run Thursday night after a massive opening overseas, has Stan revisiting his role as James “Bucky” Barnes, a.k.a “The Winter Solider.” As viewers of the erstwhile film named for him know (and the first “Captain America” before that), Barnes was a respected U.S. military man — and childhood friend of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) — later brainwashed into working for the Soviets as a kind of human instrument of torture, before (possibly) remembering his roots and seeking redemption.

As viewers of the new film soon learn, Barnes will continue to evolve, as will the significance of his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character in “Civil War” becomes, owing to past actions, a key fillip in the tension between emerging rivals Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Rogers’ Captain America. He is, in a real sense, the pivot point around which all the action revolves.

As Stan eats a burger at a restaurant near his downtown Manhattan apartment on a recent Friday afternoon, he shows little of the prepossession of a man whose actions are about to viewed and scrutinized by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

His long hair hangs straight to his chin, a ballcap sits in his hand and his face wears the kind of stubble that is neither shadow nor beard. A pair of designer-casual shoes are the only hint of someone with a more upscale day job.

Stan recently moved to the neighborhood, and he’s taking a breather from the kind of media siege that wasn’t exactly standard for past roles on the likes of “Gossip Girl,” “Once Upon a Time” and several New York theater projects. In a few days he will appear on a morning show (“GMA”) for the first time and is about to embark on the type of circuit of late-night hosts (Stephen Colbert, James Corden) usually reserved for Super Bowl MVPs

It is a far cry from the actor who, on graduating from a theater program at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, just wanted to stay busy. Continue reading

Backstage: Don’t Underestimate ‘Captain America’ Star Sebastian Stan

Let’s say you’re playing an American soldier with severe post-traumatic stress disorder struggling to assimilate back into society. For the last several decades you’ve also been forcibly brainwashed to forget compassion and embrace violence to the point of desensitization, but memories of your old life as a decent man begin to emerge. Sounds like a juicy role for an actor, right?

These are the challenges facing Sebastian Stan in “Captain America: Civil War,” the newest comic-to-big-screen installment from Marvel Studios. Don’t be fooled by the whiz-bang action sequences and glossy production values of such blockbusters; actors playing superheroes must flex their acting muscles as much as those in prestige dramas—not to mention their literal muscles, too.

“When I go to work I don’t discriminate it as a comic-book movie,” says Stan over coffee at Manhattan’s the Gander. “It’s full-on commitment. That’s all you can do.” Stan and his Marvel Cinematic Universe co-stars, who include such awards season heavyweights as Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, and Michael Douglas, are using sheer talent to elevate the ostensibly lowbrow genre.

“Comic-book movies are mythology in a way, and there are a lot more parallels in them with what’s going on in the real world than people want to discuss,” Stan points out. His “Captain America” character, the Winter Soldier (né Bucky Barnes), for instance, is a scarred serviceman without a place to call home; Stan need only look at the state of veterans’ affairs today to take the role seriously. “A lot of these people come back and they don’t know how to function in the world anymore; the world is not embracing them in the same way. That was a big part of this character’s journey in this film: Understanding the world that he’s finally found himself in. How is he going to function there?”

This level of actorly preparation isn’t usually associated with sci-fi flicks raking in billions of dollars. “People have their own stigmas about it,” says Stan frankly. “I know when people are considering me for jobs sometimes it’s, ‘Well, you’re in a comic-book movie.’ And I’m, like, ‘But I’m killing myself to try to do the best I can!’ ”

“Sebastian embodies the notion of a hardworking actor,” says Joe Russo, who co-directed both “Civil War” and the franchise’s second installment, “The Winter Soldier.” “His level of commitment is fantastic. He really finds the greatest level of detail in his performance.” In establishing a middle ground between Bucky and the Winter Soldier, he says, Stan conveys volumes while saying very little. “It’s the hardest thing to do as an actor, to convey emotion and subtlety without speaking.”

Anthony Russo agrees. “He has to come up with such a complex inner life. I think when you see him perform the character you see that, you see the complexity in his eyes and his physicality. He tells an amazing story through all those tools.” It helps that on the big screen, he adds, Stan is easy on the eyes. “It’s that phrase: The camera really loves him.”

According to Stan, listening is one of his biggest challenges in front of the lens. He marvels at Marlene Dietrich’s ability to remain still and allow audiences to project emotion onto her. “The trick is to shut off your brain,” he says. “ ‘Be interesting! Do something interesting! You’re staying too long in the same angle!’ It has to be about courage and you have to deal with that part of your brain that likes to edit and censor you. Maybe some don’t have that. I, however, do.” Continue reading

7 Questions With Sebastian Stan, Cap’n Merica’s Best Bud

He’s the indomitable Bucky Barnes, who told a pre-warhero Steve Rogers that, “I’m with you till the end of the line”. He wasn’t kidding.

“Yeah, I love having beers with all the guys, Anthony Mackie (the Falcon) and Chris Evans included. I’m still really close friends with all the people I’ve worked with,” he tells me. Here. the Romanian born New Yorker answers 7 questions for us.

From Gossip Girl to Winter Soldier, what was your actor’s process? And do you have a ritual that always helps you get into character?
I used to smoke a lot. And I had this ritual, where I’d show up for the audition, have a cigarette, and keep the stub until I heard whether or not I got the job. Now its a lot of meditation, music, I’m a bit music guy and I like to create my own playlists. Anything that helps get your concentration in order.

What’s your dream crew? As in directors, writers, or actors you’d like to work with.
I love Aaron Aronofsky. Hey, can I send him a personal letter through you? (sure, go ahead I reply.) Aaron, you’re the only man who can wear a mustache well. Please call me, I’d love to grab lunch or see a movie together. Talk to you soon (Stan laughs, because, and you can tell, he’s half serious). Other than that, Ridley Scott, Martin Scorcese, Ron Howard, amazing guys like that. Directors are important, movies are ultimately a directors medium. It’s their world, not so much an actors world. End of the day, it’s their vision.

On a scale of one to ten, how lucky are you in life?
Oh wow, I’m very, very lucky to do what I do. In fact I’m going to get a chance to travel to Malaysia soon for work. Everyday, I make a gratitude list of 10 things that I’m grateful for. (I’m incredulous so I reconfirm that anecdote) Yes, I do! I really think I’m really lucky. I’m so grateful for my family, my mom, my stepdad, they all made it possible for me to come here. Plus the opportunities I’ve had, for my friends, for the fact that I’m living in New York, in my own apartment in the city. I’m also grateful to have people that believe in me the way they do; my manager has been with me 17 years, my agent for 15 years. It’s also a friendly reminder that life is has got to keep going, you should never feel like you’ve arrived. You gotta stay hungry. It’s all over for you the moment you don’t. And in my job, it’s also about exploring yourself. Films are an incredible medium where you get to talk to people. I have these great fans, they write me everyday, telling me about their lives getting better from watching my movies. To me that’s more important than anything else. And as a man in the world, you have to leave something behind, if not what the hell am I doing while I’m here?

Okay, time for some fun questions. What kind of music gets you dancing when no one’s looking?
Haha… My favourite is 80’s music. There’s this one singer called Tiffany, her song was I Think we’re Alone Now.

Who would you want to be marooned on a tropical island with?
Easy. Endless pizza delivery.

How would the friends you grew up with describe you?
I hope – and this is a big one – that they say I’m loyal, driven and direct.

Who’s your favourite Disney princess and why.
Oh man… I think Princess Jasmine, from Aladdin? She’s just great and such a strong character that just stuck in my mind.

Source: augustman.com

Captain America: Civil War is a love story, says Joe Russo

A war movie? An action thriller? A super-powered face-off for the ages? However you’ve heard Captain America: Civil War described, you’ve probably only heard it called a love story in semi-jest. But that’s exactly how director Joe Russo termed it when Empire caught up with him on set.

“What’s fascinating about the Cap-Bucky story as well is it’s a love story,” says the co-director. Stop your sniggering at the back, he’s talking about the fraternal kind. “These are two guys who grew up together, and so they have that same emotional connection to each other as brothers would, and even more so because Bucky was all Steve had growing up.”

The picture, of course, is clouded by Cap’s guilt and Barnes’ ambiguous morality. “Is he good or is he bad?” ponders Russo. “Steve has to answer that question for himself, and there are other characters in the movie who hold the opposite point of view. It becomes a very explosive. It incites a lot of conflict.”

Bucky himself, Sebastian Stan, dials back a little on the love talk – hey, it’s not like that fan fiction needs help writing itself – instead likening the pair’s relationship to the Bad Boys movies’ Will Smith/Martin Lawrence dynamic. “I think it’s easy and generalising it to say that they’re lovers, when you’re forgetting that one has a lot of guilt because he swore to be the protector of the other, the father figure or older brother so to speak, and then left him behind.” Adds the actor: “I have no qualms with it but I think people like to see it much more as a love story than it actually is. It’s brotherhood to me.” Science Bros, eat your hearts out.

One thing that is clear is that Cap’s loyalty to his old friend, now compromised by that whole Winter Soldier thing, fuels the breakdown of another, more brittle friendship. Tony Stark is, as the movie’s most recent trailer shows, is a foe to be reckoned with.

Joe and Anthony Russo are directing this one, from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It stars (deep breath): Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Emily VanCamp, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Frank Grillo, Tom Holland, William Hurt, and Daniel Brühl.

Captain America: Civil War lands in the UK on from April 29, and US cinemas from May 6.

Source: empireonline.com

Sebastian Stan Goes for Comedy Gold in ‘The Bronze’

Millions of moviegoers will soon watch Sebastian Stan (as Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier) mix it up in the Marvel superhero-battle flick “Captain America: Civil War,” out May 7. But this Friday, he’s in a different type of battle as the cocky antagonist of the vulgar gymnastics comedy “The Bronze.”

In the movie, written by star Melissa Rauch (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Winston Rauch, Stan plays gold and silver medalist Lance Tucker opposite Rauch’s bronze-winning Hope Ann Greggory, two aging gymnasts fighting over who will coach a new prodigy, Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson).

“Both Melissa’s character and my character are adult children who never grew up,” says the 33-year-old actor. “They’re both stomping their feet and going, ‘I deserve what I deserve,’ because they didn’t really have childhoods.”

Stan talked to Speakeasy about other aspects of his role in “The Bronze,” including its buzzed-about sex scene, as well his college days, his pro-wrestling fandom, and what’s next for him – and what we can expect from Marvel Studios films starting with “Civil War.”

Stan based his “Bronze” performance on real people, some of them jerks.

The actor says he modeled much of his character’s mannerisms on someone he met, although he was worried that the person would see the movie and recognize that Stan’s arrogant bully of a character was in part based on him. “Can’t judge a book by its cover, but this individual ended up being the sweetest person in the world,” Stan says, adding that he was also inspired by jerks he went to high school and college with.

“The Bronze” sex scene was a challenge in more ways than one.

A movie featuring a sex scene involving gymnasts has to involve some, well, gymnastics. Stan said he tried to do as many flips and moves as possible while being mostly naked, with the exception of a sock covering his genitals, in front of the crew. “And you’d be surprised by what you’re capable of once you’re on the spot,” he says. “It’s almost like you rise to the challenge, no pun intended.”

Stan knows his classic wrestlers.

When asked about how “The Bronze” compares to “The Wrestler” – another, albeit much more serious movie about a washed-up athlete struggling to stay relevant – Stan lights up. “I used to love wrestling growing up,” he says. “I was into WWF, which is what we called it back then.” Mr. Perfect (aka Curt Hennig, who died in 2003 at age 44) was one of his favorites. “The Perfect-Plex was the most intense maneuver,” Stan says. Continue reading

Melissa Rauch & Sebastian Stan Explain Their Insane Sex Scene in ‘The Bronze’

Can we all agree that the ideal husband is one who encourages you to hook up with Sebastian Stan, and even helps script scenarios that will allow you to do so? If so, then Melissa Rauch may be the world’s luckiest woman: In this weekend’s new comedy The Bronze, which she co-wrote with her husband Winston, Rauch plays a foul-mouthed former gymnast who gets it on with Stan’s Olympic coach in what is surely the young year’s wildest sex scene. Both characters bring all their athletic prowess to bear on each other, cartwheel-flipping and vaulting into each other’s naughty portions in the most R-rated floor exercise ever conceived. And with each gymnastic thrust, Rauch could count on both Stan and her husband to egg her on.

“Oh, Winston was so game throughout,” Rauch told Vulture recently in Los Angeles. “Anything for the sake of the movie! He would even be like, ‘I think we should do another take of that.’”

“And that was like the second or third day on set for me,” laughed Stan. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m really gonna get to know these people better.’”

So will the audience: While Stan is most famous for playing Bucky Barnes in the Captain America movies and Rauch has a steady job as Bernadette on The Big Bang Theory, The Bronze offers both actors a new way to cut loose, exemplified by the sort of graphic, over-the-top encounter you’d never see in their more family-friendly franchises. “We wrote it as ‘the most crazy epic gymnastic sex scene ever,’ said Rauch. “It really was a porno script, essentially. But Sebastian was so fantastic and he went for so much of it. He could have just said, ‘Have my body double do it,’ and instead he came to set in his robe and said, ‘Okay, let’s do this.’”

Rauch did, too, but for some of the more graphic moments, she selected as her body double a Cirque du Soleil dancer who had no hang-ups about the scene’s wild stunts (or nudity). “Every time I slammed into her,” Stan said, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, are you okay?’ And she was like, ‘Just go for it.’”

“I remember staring at her like a creepy old dude,” laughed Rauch, “wishing that she could body-double for me in every moment of life. At one point, I was like, ‘Do you want a robe?’ and she said, ‘I’m good, you’re gonna see everything anyway.’ And she was literally sitting there legs open, eating a sandwich.” Continue reading

Sebastian Stan Talks Sex Scene In ‘The Bronze’ That Is So NSFW: “Outrageous, Dangerous, And Over The Top”

There are some cinematic moments that have stayed in my memory years after seeing them. Like when Bueller breaks the fourth wall for the first time in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Or when Inigo Montoya gets stabbed but still defeats the six-fingered man in The Princess Bride. And of course when Rose let’s go of Jack at the end of Titanic (after he repeatedly tells her to “never let go”). And after seeing 2016’s The Bronze, I can guarantee that the gratuitous gymnast sex scene, featuring Melissa Rauch and Sebastian Stan, will stay in my conscious for many moons to come.

The Bronze follows Hope, a gymnast from a small town who won a bronze medal at the Olympics years ago. As she tries to hold on to her glory days, she’s forced to train an up-and-coming gymnast for her own Olympic Games. Rauch, who co-wrote the film with her husband, stars as Hope, and Stan plays an Olympic coach and Hope’s former lover. In an unforgettable scene, the pair rekindle their romance in an extremely graphic and oh-so impressive sex scene.

“In the script it was literally described as the most epic, insane, outrageous, fascinating, dangerous, over the top gymnastics sex scene there ever was in the world,” says Stan. “That was the tag line.”

The scene goes something like this: The pair barge into a hotel room, rip one another’s clothing off, throw each other all over the room, and perform a bevy of impressive gymnastic stunts — while naked — and while having sex. It’s something you can’t tear your eyes away from. And something that will surely leave your mouth agape.

“I just wanted to see what we could get away with,” Stan says. “We figured out the routine on the day of. We had two Cirque Du Soleil people, we had an Olympic winner gymnast choreographer, and we were all standing there at 8 am with coffees in bathrobes, going: ‘Can you flip this way? What if we do this? What if we do that?'”

The not-to-be-missed scene also reveals his character’s Olympic-inspired (and very phallic) tattoo. “That was on there for at least a week afterwards. I was in the gym in the steamroom and was like, ‘Ugh, I’m that guy now,'” Stan recalls.

Stan’s co-star, Thomas Middleditch, who plays Hope’s other love interest, was impressed with Stan’s willingness to commit to the tricky scene: “He really went for it. Another actor would be too timid or be too crass about it, but he manages to hit that sweet spot. As a result the scene is legendary,” Middleditch says. “It’s remarkable. The only time you’ve seen anything close to it is in Team America — and that’s with dolls. These are real people doing the craziest and weirdest shit. It’s not in a porno — it’s in a comedy — and somehow it works.”

“I never get sick of that scene. I wish we were shooting it today,” Stan jokes.

See the scene in question — and Stan’s outrageous tattoo — when The Bronze hits theaters March 18.

Source: Bustle.com

Will Bucky Become Captain America? Sebastian Stan Reveals He’d “Love” To Step Into Cap’s Shoes

With the latest installment of Marvel’s Captain America franchise set to hit theaters on May 6, superhero fanatics are wondering what’s going to happen to Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans), his team, and his frenemy Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) next. I sat down with Stan while he was promoting his latest film, The Bronze, and asked about the fate of Captain America: Civil War’s favorite heroes.

One theory is that Steve Rodgers could come to his final end in the not so distant future, leaving an opening for a new team leader. After all, Chris Evans’ contract is almost up, and that leaves the Avengers without a captain. Could Bucky, Cap’s righthand man, ever step into those shiny red boots?

“I don’t know how I would say no to that,” Stan says. “I mean, it’s such a tough question because it’s so not up to me. I’d love to see it one day. There’s a lot in the comic books that still need to be explored. I think it would be an amazing, interesting, challenging thing to want to explore as an actor.”

So what could prevent Bucky from becoming the next Cap? Well, there are a lot of pieces at play, and according to Stan, the fans are a driving force behind the decision Marvel makes for it’s onscreen characters.

“So much depends on the powers that be and a lot on the fans — what the fans want to see and what they’re ready for. I think audiences are really powerful and extremely smart. They are ahead of us in a lot of ways. So they are much more a part of decisions than they might think.”

While we know Stan is up for the challenge — is Bucky?

“It would be a tremendous responsibility for him to step into those shoes as a character. I’ll say this: I think before that happens, Bucky’s gotta get a hell of a lot healthier than he is right now. And he ain’t that great. To be seen!”

I’ll let Marvel megafans debate what Stan means when he refers to Bucky’s (mental? Physical?) health, and if there is indeed a real possibility of Bucky taking on a much larger leadership role in Marvel films to come.

“For now, I’m having an amazing time doing what I’m doing. I’m very happy with the situation,” Stan concludes.

Captain America: Civil War hits theaters May 6.

Source: Bustle.com

‘The Bronze’ premiere: Secrets behind the ‘most crazy, epic’ gymnast love scene

The Bronze, a (hard) R-rated comedy about washed-up Olympic gymnast Hope who can’t move past her glory days, stars Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch. Captain America: Winter Soldier’s Sebastian Stan plays rival gymnast Lance.

So here’s one thing you should know about Sundance movie that gets a theatrical release March: Rauch and Stan’s characters have…

“The most crazy, epic gymnastics sex scene ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

At least that’s how the movie’s major love scene was described in its script, said Rauch, who wrote the film with her husband, at the movie’s Hollywood premiere Monday.

That would explain why the laugh-out-loud-funny scene contains flips, splits and handstands. So, how did that sequence come together? Rauch explained:

“We sorta bullet-pointed what those (gymnastic) moves would be. It was the closest to a porn that I think I’ll ever write. And we had a phenomenal gymnastics coordinator, Kristina Baskett, who did all of the gymnastics including the ‘sex-tastics.'”

Another important element of the sequence: Rauch and Sebastian Stan had Cirque du Soleil performers as body doubles, “but Sebastian did a lot of his own stunts,” said Rauch.

So we asked Stan: Which stunts were his own?

“I would say there’s a few upside-down press-up pumps that are happening that are all me,” he admitted.

Source: usatoday.com