She’s building her career outside her homeland, too, including starring in the Apple TV series Presumed Innocent and the A24 thriller A Different Man. She has The Governesses, another A24 film, with Lily-Rose Depp and Hoyeon; Somewhere Out There, from director Alexander Payne; and Fjord, a drama that she’ll lead alongside her A Different Man co-star Sebastian Stan.
[…]
On her craziest Hollywood story
Sebastian Stan and I crashed a wedding. I wasn’t famous at all at that point, though I had done The Worst Person in the World. I thought I would be invisible, but they were getting married because they both had seen that movie and fell in love over it. I was like their mascot.
Category: Blurbs
We are very curious to see your new film, Fjord, which you made this year, in Norway, with Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. What was it like working with international actors, how was it filming in Norway?
Filming itself with them was not very different from what we always did in a Romanian film with Romanian actors. What is very different is working with a team that has a little other habits.
You know that we, in Romania, are very hardworking in the field of cinema because we work against the clock and against the budget. We work 12 hours a day and we pull hard to finish as soon as possible, we don’t have such moments when we beat the plains on the plateau and relax when it’s not the case, we can’t.
While in Norway, we had to somehow go through this small period of knowing each other and, in the end, it was OK, but we met somewhere in the middle.
They work, as a rule, 8 hours and, in the end, our 12, we agreed to work somewhere at 10 hours, with pause, with everything, with roads, with everything, but after that the punctual way in which we worked with Sebastian and Renate was no different.
They lived with us, they rehearsed with us, as with the other actors. Sebastian was very generous and did not come with a publicist, agent, I know what, on the plateau, he did not have a special caravan and treatment. Sure, he had his peace of mind, which he needed, but which all the actors had.
And this has helped us advance into some kind of European-American project, but mostly European. That is, he admitted to work less on the American model that we have no way to replicate here and fold on our way of working.
Romanian filmmaker Andreea Cristina Bor?un is prepping a feature film to follow on the heels of her anticipated debut, “A River’s Gaze,” a Sebastian Stan-produced drama that’s expected to land a top-shelf festival premiere next year. Bor?un is pitching her latest project in the Crossroads Co-Production Forum of the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s industry arm, Agora, which takes place Nov. 2 – 6.
TIFF – ‘A River’s Gaze’ is set to premiere in 2026.
The update is available on director Andreea Bortun’s profile for TiFF (posted below). Sebastian Stan is attached to the project as a producer.
The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Film Stage: I’m really fascinated to hear more about Fjörd, if you’re able to talk a bit about it today. It’s your first time filming in Norway and your first time working with big-name stars. Did you feel a change in your approach in any way?
Cristian Mungiu: Well, I think that it’s the same kind of cinema that I did before. And I don’t know––we will see––I hope it makes a difference in terms of interest from the spectators, to watch these talented people. I was not working within the star system before now, but I was happy to work with these people without having to change my way of making cinema. We got along quite well and I’m happy that I started with Sebastian, because he speaks some Romanian and he wished to speak Romanian in the film. I’m very curious to see what’s going to be the continuation of this once I move on and try to work with well-known actors who don’t speak Romanian. What will happen there? I’m really curious.
[…]
I’ve read that Fjörd will focus on two families, specifically around cultural differences regarding raising children. Will this topic of education be the central focus?
It doesn’t happen inside a school, but yes, these are always the institutions that are most important in society. Since I have this preoccupation with what we are passing to the next generation, there are children there, but it’s not so much about what school tells us; it’s about the difference between what school tells us and how people see what real life is. Because it’s not at all the same thing. What you tell your children can be very different, based on what education you got. You have to understand that they don’t live in the same kind of world that you lived in, so you have to adapt as a parent. For a parent, this means finding the right balance between the values you try to pass down and the freedom that you need to give to children, hoping that they will be wiser and more empathetic than we were.
Fjörd will be released in 2026 by NEON.
Jul
03
Amy Taylor didn’t set out to write a novel destined for the screen, but sometimes, stories carry their own momentum. Before Ruins reached the shelves, it was optioned for film, with Vanessa Kirby and Sebastian Stan already attached to bring its intensity to life. For the Melbourne-based author and screenwriter, this next chapter feels both surreal and strangely inevitable.
Written mostly from her desk at home, Ruins expands on the emotional precision of Taylor’s debut, Search History, but it does so with a slower, more cinematic gaze. Set in idyllic Athens, the novel traces the lives of Emma, Julian, and Lena — three characters brought together by proximity, and pulled apart by things unsaid. It’s a triangle of sorts, but not in the traditional sense.
Taylor describes writing the book as a process of looking outward and inward at once. Moving to third person, compared to using first in her debut novel, gave her a new space to breathe, and to shape perspective at arm’s length. The result is a novel that moves with restraint, carrying its heartbreak not in big gestures, but in the small, shifts of human connection.
Cinematic in tone and tightly rendered in structure, Ruins was shaped as much by film as by fiction. Taylor drew inspiration from works like Aftersun and The Lost Daughter, resonating with their slow ache and attention to memory.
Here, we speak with Amy Taylor on her inspiration for her latest novel, writing rituals, and scenes she’s excited to see play out on screen.
1. Ruins follows a tangled triangle between Emma, Julian and Lena. What first sparked the idea for this story?
I first set out to explore the idea of a couple who learn they have entirely opposing visions for their future together. Should they compromise on the things they desire? What if a compromise isn’t possible? Can they still find a way to fight their doomed fate? It then followed organically that some form of love triangle complication would drive the story forward and force the characters to face these questions head-on.
2. How did the process of writing Ruins compare to your debut, Search History? Did your writing approach change?
Absolutely. Ruins unfolds on a more linear, tighter timeline, and I planned the beats of the story out before I started writing, both of which made the process more straightforward. Writing from a third-person perspective, instead of first—like I did with Search History—also allowed the scenes to flow more easily. First-person perspective is very intimate, but also quite limiting. I definitely appreciated the freedom of narrating from the outside this time around.
3. When it comes to writing, do you have a sacred space or ritual that grounds you in the process?
It’s less of a ritual and more of a pragmatic chore, but I try to make sure my desk is clean and ready for the next day of writing. Having to tidy it in the morning before I write is an obstacle to getting started. Pre-emptively removing the obstacles is a little gift I can give my future self. (Caffeine helps too.)
4. Ruins feels very atmospheric — did you have any visuals, films, or music in mind while writing?
I wanted to capture a creeping feeling of tension—a presentiment that something bad is going to happen—but anchor it to a very real place, so that the setting seems to be apathetic to the drama unfolding in the story. Throughout the process, I thought a lot about the way the films Aftersun and The Lost Daughter adaptation encapsulate that tone perfectly.
5. Do you have an author that you look up to or admire the most?
The first name that comes to mind is Lorrie Moore. I’ll always be enamoured with her skill for combining humour and pathos. No one does it quite like her. I treasure her books.
6. Congratulations on Ruins now being optioned, with Oscar nominees Vanessa Kirby and Sebastian Stan set to star and produce – what was your reaction to this news?
Pure excitement! Vanessa and Sebastian are wildly talented. In conversation with them, I was really able to feel the personal connection they had to the characters and the story. I knew immediately that they’d do an incredible job of bringing Emma and Julian to life. I’m so thrilled to be working with them and the rest of the passionate team at Miramax, Scott Free Productions and Linden Entertainment.
7. Did you ever think about how the book might be adapted for the screen while you were writing it? Are there any scenes you’re especially curious to see play out on screen?
Although the novel is set in Athens, I wrote the vast majority of it from my desk in Melbourne. On reflection, I think this really forced me to use my imagination and visualise the scenes unfolding like they would in a film. There are a fair few scenes that I would love to see play out on screen, but to avoid any spoilers, I’ll just say this: The balcony scene is probably the top of my list…
8. Looking forward, you have already achieved incredible success with your two books, are you already thinking about writing a third?
I do have an idea for another novel, although my son, Teddy—who’s currently 6 weeks old—has a pretty big say in my schedule at the moment. I’ll be writing at a slower pace this time around. I also feel quite pulled towards screenwriting at the moment. I have a couple of projects I’m considering leaping into—I’d love to try my hand at writing an original screenplay (even if it’s just for fun!)
A Canadian Screen Awards that put marginalized voices front and center and challenged the global political landscape saw The Apprentice, a film about a young Donald Trump, dominate the national film and TV awards Sunday night in Toronto.
Director Ali Abbasi’s Trump origin story won best movie, while Sebastian Stan, the Romania-born American actor who plays the future U.S. president alongside Jeremy Strong as his consigliere Roy Cohn, earned top honors for best leading role.
Daniel Bekerman, co-producer of the Canada/Ireland/Denmark co-production The Apprentice, said when accepting the prize, “Our movie shows how the young Donald Trump amassed wealth and power by finding a dilapidated building and slapping his name on it as president. We’ll see how that works out.”
Then Bekerman turned to Trump taunting Canada as a possible 51st state for the United States. “Now he wants to slap his name on this country. This is a challenge, but a good challenge, because as independent filmmakers and storytellers, what we need to do, what is our responsibility, is to tell stories with honesty that can build trust and build community. The rise of indigenous cinema in this country gives me hope. The rise of queer cinema in this country gives me hope. But we’re faced with power structures that want to silence us. It’s time to lock arms,” he added.
Bekerman added that The Apprentice, which bowed in Cannes, received nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. “But Ali, I told you, you have to come to Canada if you want to find some guts in this industry,” he said in a call-out to director Abbasi in the audience.
Andreea is a film director who works transdisciplinary. She teaches in the Department of Screenings: Filmology of the National University of Theatre and Cinematography “I.L.Caragiale” and is the co-founder of “Pustnik”, the longest-running international journalism residency in Romania, a laboratory framework where she experiments at the level of the methodology of narrative development for cinema. It uses film as a sensory environment to create projects and narratives that speak of the origins of our minds, communities or nature. Her first feature film, A River’s Gaze, will be released in theaters later this year and will be part of a trilogy currently in the production stage.
Sebastian Stan still has plenty of XOXO’s for this Gossip Girl alum.
While reflecting on the show’s 19th anniversary, the 42-year-old detailed which of the show’s original cast—which included Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chase Crawford and more—he still keeps in touch with.
“I talk to Chase a lot,” Sebastian told E! News’ Will Marfuggi in an exclusive interview at the Thunderbolts Los Angeles premiere April 28. “I knew him before Gossip Girl so we stayed close. Penn Badgley, I did his podcast at one point—but really Chase.”
And as Sebastian reprises his role of Bucky Barnes for Marvel’s Thunderbolts, which hits theaters May 2, he admitted that his superhero could hold his own against Chase’s The Boys character, The Deep—but he wouldn’t want to put his theory to the test.
“We could also just laugh it out,” he joked. “He’s just brilliant.” (For more from Sebastian and the Thunderbolts cast, tune into E! News tonight, April 29, at 11 p.m.)
All jokes aside, the Marvel star was committed to doing as many stunts as he could for the new movie, which also stars Florence Pugh and David Harbour, which proved to be a difficult undertaking.
“We just don’t have as much time as we used to in preparing,” he admitted. “It’s a little bit like, ‘hurry up and learn it and let’s do it.’”
And The Apprentice star noted that he is starting to feel the toll of getting older.
“That’s really tough,” he continued. “And mentally you’re still like ‘I can do it.’” Still, Sebastian wouldn’t change a thing about how he prepared for the film.
“It’s nice to have a challenge,” he added. “It’s nice to kind of be able to keep coming back to it. The fear and the adrenaline and the excitement kind of blend in together and by the end it’s all fun.”
As he put it, “As long as I can get in there a little bit, I’m grateful.”
While Kurzel said he is no longer associated with the Laura Dern and Benedict Cumberbatch sci-fi drama “Morning,” he is about to begin production on another adaptation. Kurzel has replaced “Room” director Lenny Abrahamson to helm Cory Finley’s adaptation of “Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke,” journalist Dean Kuipers’ account of a five-day standoff between marijuana advocates and the FBI. As an indication of the regard in which he is held by actors, Kurzel was brought onto the project by its star Sebastian Stan, a gesture that speaks to the collaborative spirit he fosters on set.