Category: Projects

Jan
25

News: More on Sebastian Stan”s visit to Romania + ‘Fjord’

Observator News [Google Translate]

From Hollywood to Bucharest. Sebastian Stan found out he was nominated for an Oscar while he was in the capital, at rehearsals. The Romanian superstar is preparing for his role in the film directed by Cristian Mungiu. The visit was planned discreetly and few details were known to fans. He stayed at a luxury hotel in the center of Bucharest, went out on the town and posed, among others, with another champion – David Popovici.

Two weeks after his declaration of love on the Golden Globes stage, Hollywood star Sebastian Stan has arrived in Romania for a visit . He is preparing to film his first Romanian feature film, directed by Cristian Mungiu.

“Sebastian came to Romania for some rehearsals. We are in a preparation phase. It was important to see each other for some costume tests and rehearsals. We were together when we received the news that he was nominated for an Oscar . So that he wouldn’t have too many emotions, we agreed that we would work that day and, during rehearsals, I received a message that he had been nominated. I was pleased to give him the news ,” said Cristian Mungiu.

The superstar’s film partner, Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, who won an award at Cannes, also arrived in Romania. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve also starred together in the film “A Different Man”

“I asked him if he had time, I gave him the script, he liked it, we met and decided that we would work together. We have known each other for a long time. He came to New York when I was preparing another film and we agreed to stay in touch to find a project to work on together ,” added Mungiu.

In a recent interview, Sebastian Stan said he can’t wait to get into the role he has in the film directed by Cristian Mungiu, titled “Fjord.” “I tried to find a project that would bring me back to Romania and exploit that personal history that I have. I’m excited to work with Cristian Mungiu and I hope everything ends well,” the actor said.

Before filming began, Sebastian Stan went out on the town with the production team and several businessmen, at the Universul Palace.

“He seemed to me to be an extremely modest and friendly character, very involved in this project. It is his first film in Romanian, which he speaks with his mother. I think this project has a very high personal value for him ,” said Laura Mih?il?, communications director at a bank.

The actor also met with swimming champion David Popovici . ” Yes, Sebastian Stan is just as cool in real life. They say if I train hard enough, maybe I’ll get a role in a Marvel movie,” Popovici wrote on Facebook. In just a few hours, the post received tens of thousands of likes.

Sebastian Stan was accommodated at a five-star hotel in the center of the capital and was driven around Bucharest in a luxury limousine. The actor speaks Romanian fluently, thanks to his mother, a piano teacher.

The Romanian film directed by Cristian Mungiu follows the story of a Romanian family that moves to Norway and ends up involved in a complicated civil lawsuit, following accusations of physical abuse. The film addresses themes such as tolerance, freedom and the boundaries of privacy, with children in the foreground. Filming will take place in Norway, and the project is financed by the National Center of Cinematography with 3.5 million lei. The film “Fjord” is already one of the most anticipated titles of 2026.

Jan
25

News: How Sebastian Stan found out he was nominated for an Oscar: “I stopped rehearsals and told him.”

Observator News [Google Translate]

Cristian Mungiu, director who won the prestigious Palme d’Or award at Cannes, spoke to Observator, Antena 1, about the new film he is preparing and which stars Sebastian Stan, an actor recently nominated for an Oscar.

Sebastian Stan and Cristian Mungiu EXCLUSIVE. How Sebastian Stan found out he was nominated for an Oscar: “I stopped rehearsals and told him.” Cristian Mungiu, interview for Observator – Observator /

Cristian Mungiu, a filmmaker who won an award at Cannes for the film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but also the director of films such as Occident, Dup? Dealuri or Baccalaureat, gave an EXCLUSIVE interview to Observator. He said that he was with Sebastian Stan when the Romanian actor was nominated for an Oscar. Cristian Mungiu also talked about his new film, a production that will take him to Norway for filming and which stars Sebastian Stan in the lead role.

“For now, Sebastian came to Romania for some rehearsals. We are not in a promotional phase because we don’t really have anything to promote yet. We are organizing to make the film and it was important for us to see each other at this stage.”

I met with Sebastian and Renate Reinsve, the lead actress, for some costume fitting and rehearsals, and what was also nice was that we were together when he received this news.

(Reporter: So he was in Romania?) Yes, he was in Romania and we were happy. He was emotional, but we agreed that we would work that day and we were in rehearsals when I received a message. I was happy to tell him: hey, you’ve been nominated!

Of course we were happy, but it’s very important that now we can focus on what we have to do, because what we have to do next is quite difficult.

I hope we can start filming in March. We have to film for about two months, until May, in Norway. It is still not clear whether we will also film in Romania, probably not, but that is a decision we will make a little later. We have a cast made up mostly of Nordic actors: Norwegians, Danes, Swedes, plus Sebastian and a few Romanians.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. He came to New York once, when I was screening a film, and we met. We agreed to stay in touch in the hope that one day we would find a project to work on together. And look, I found one that was convenient for both me and him. For him, both in terms of role, language, and period,” said Cristian Mungiu.

He also gave some details about the script.

(Reporter: What is the film about?) “It’s the story of a meeting of two cultures, if you want to say it that way, which is expressed in the film through the meeting between two families who live next to each other in a very isolated locality, in a Norwegian fjord, in a place that we found and where there are only two or three houses. A situation that brings a fairly intimate report between neighbors and that shows a certain exchange related to each one’s cultural values, ideas about family, about education. It’s a community story, a story about the need to understand that there are no longer monoblock communities like before.

I don’t know if it’s a “difficult” film, because I’ve never made easy films. It’s a more difficult film because I’m filming in a language other than Romanian, a difficult film because it also has to do with how the seasons manifest themselves today and because we don’t know what weather we’ll get there.

We’re filming for about 50 days and the hope is that during this period we’ll catch snow, rain, and spring.

“If everything goes well, we will try to get him to Cannes in 2026,” he added.

Jan
24

Video/Photos: Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong talk about playing Donald Trump and Roy Cohn in “The Apprentice” (w/ screencaps)

Jan
24

News: Oscar Nominations – Sebastian Nominated for ‘The Apprentice’ – ‘Thank You’ Statement

Congrats to Sebastian on his nomination for ‘The Apprentice’. You can view the announcement below via Gold Derby.

Sebastian Stan for Best Actor (‘The Apprentice’)

“I can’t believe I’m in Romania while receiving this news. It’s surreal. I’m stunned. I’m speechless. I’m humbled. I guess this is what they mean by the American Dream. I’m so grateful to everyone who made the impossible, possible. Thank you to the Academy for this brave recognition.”

Jan
23

News: Oscar Nominations – Sebastian Nominated for ‘The Apprentice’

Congrats to Sebastian on his nomination for ‘The Apprentice’. You can view the announcement below.

Jan
19

Photo/Video: Steal The Look Entrevista – Sebastian Stan & Adam Pearson (w/ Screen Captures)



Jan
15

News: BAFTA Nominations – Sebastian Nominated

Deadline

LEADING ACTOR

ADRIEN BRODY The Brutalist

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET A Complete Unknown

COLMAN DOMINGO Sing Sing

RALPH FIENNES Conclave

HUGH GRANT Heretic

SEBASTIAN STAN The Apprentice

Jan
14

News: Sebastian Stan on His Cristian Mungiu Film, the ‘Brutalist’ Role He Almost Played, Actors on Actors, and Battling for ‘The Apprentice’

Indiewire – The surprise Golden Globe winner tells IndieWire why the industry remains “apprehensive” about his Donald Trump role and about new indie projects with Mungiu and Justin Kurzel.

If you don’t watch Marvel movies, then you don’t know Bucky Barnes, which means you only know Sebastian Stan as the also-indie actor behind films like 2024’s “A Different Man” and “The Apprentice.” Both movies have put him in the awards race, and possibly the Oscar running, especially after his grimly funny, pathos-spiked turn as a self-loathing, out-of-options actor with neurofibromatosis in Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” won him a surprise Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. That night, he was also nominated for Best Actor in a Drama for “The Apprentice,” where he plays a ’70s New York-era Donald Trump.

Had scheduling gone a different path, he would’ve starred in Brady Corbet’s also-Oscar-contending “The Brutalist,” but Stan had plenty on his plate last year and into this one, setting him up for his biggest awards season run yet. His transformative Trump performance in director Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” has been celebrated since the film‘s 2024 Cannes premiere. Top distributors shunned the film until rookie releaser Briarcliff Entertainment got on board in August 2024, billionaire investor Dan Snyder tried to wrangle creative control and block the release, and, eventually, Stan’s peers declined the chance to speak with the American-Romanian actor in Variety’s popular Actors on Actors series, a major platform for awards contenders. Stan has been candid about not finding a sparring partner for the publication’s viral program. Why not? People don’t want to go near a movie about the incumbent president, including American audiences ($4 million domestic).

Speaking with IndieWire over the phone, Stan said that once he went public with why he wasn’t participating in Actors on Actors, “A lot of friends called me and said, ‘Hey let’s go do this together.’ That was obviously very thoughtful and very kind, but for us, Ali, Jeremy [Strong, who plays lawyer Roy Cohn], that was nothing really new.” (Last November, Variety’s editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh told IndieWire, “We invited [Stan] to participate in ‘Actors on Actors,’ the biggest franchise of awards season, but other actors didn’t want to pair with him because they didn’t want to talk about Donald Trump.”)

Stan continued, “We had been facing that kind of a thing since Cannes, whether it had even been photo shoots promoting the film, or certain people that were like, ‘We don’t want to go near this.’ Every interview since Cannes, we’ve been asked, ‘How’s the reception been? Why do you think studios are apprenehsive?’ This is sadly the reality. We have a lot of people who love this film or say they do, but when it comes down to jumping in the fire a little bit … hesitancy is understandable, to some extent.”

While understanding the emotional component around not wanting to see a movie about a leader and convicted felon who is on TV every second of the news day, Stan said, “However, around hesitancy, there’s also a slippery slope toward indifference, and that complements fear. That’s the only distinction we have to keep trying to make. You can rightfully own, ‘Hey, this isn’t for me,’ or ‘I don’t want to go there.’ But in terms of ‘I’m too worried, I’m too scared, I don’t want to get in hot water,’ then it’s like, what’s the next thing that becomes OK to not want to deal with it because it’s uncomfortable? We didn’t understand what was so uncomfortable about the movie.”

“The Apprentice” received mixed reviews at Cannes, though I remember in my festival screening being surrounded by European journalists laughing their heads off because they see Trump as a comic figure. Many Americans do not, and with “The Apprentice,” we don’t yet have the benefit of hindsight because we’re still living in the Trump era.

“Usually what happens is you look at movies like ‘Nixon’ or the movie ‘Downfall,’ which is about Hitler, [the movies] happen years later. We’ve had time to process our emotions about it, and we’ve had some distance so we can go back and look at what went wrong or what we [believed] at the time,” Stan said. “You don’t have that luxury [with ‘The Apprentice’]. We don’t have the luxury of not dealing with this person.”

Going back to his moment winning the Globe for “A Different Man,” it’s been a mixed blessing for double nominee Stan.

“There was this unbelievable kind of moment at the Globes that I never really thought was ever going to happen, and you have a brief moment of that, and suddenly, anything can flip,” he said of L.A. going into panic mode right after the Globes amid the ongoing wildfires in Southern California. “In terms of Mother Nature… at the end of the day, it really is just people. We’re all in the same boat there. There’s nothing to differentiate or anything. We are all pretty much in the same boat.”

After he’s finished with awards season duties, Stan expects to head to Europe in March to film the new film from Palme d’Or-winning auteur Cristian Mungiu, which brings the “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” filmmaker’s usual moral ambiguity into a real-life case of abuse in Romania. He’ll be reuniting with “A Different Man” star Renate Reinsve for the film, which will shoot in Romanian, English, and Norwegian.

“With all of these smaller indies, I always feel even while I’m on the plane going there, I’m always worried, ‘Is the financing going to come through? It’s on its way,” Stan said. “He’s been up there with me for a few years with filmmakers from Romania where I’ve been calling him trying to find a way to work with him, where I can speak Romanian as well. We finally found this story, which is about a Romanian family who’s moved to Norway and then ends up in this very complicated trial. There’s a system [that] investigates cases if there’s ever been physical abuse in the household between the parents or the kids. They go investigating the family for an incident, and it leads to this trial. It happened before the pandemic, and it became national news. There were a lot of religious communities that came to their side, and it’s really interesting and quite complicated.”

Stan has also been instrumental in shepherding the next film from Australian “The Order” director Justin Kurzel, “Burning Rainbow,” about a true Waco-style FBI standoff that brought down a pro-marijuana campground in Michigan a week before 9/11. He’s attached to star in the story of Tom Crosslin and Rolland Rohm, a gay couple defending their land amid police investigations linked to a Rainbow Farm festival-associated killing and their marijuana plants.

“They were raising a child as well,” Stan said. “They were real activists in some ways, and they were very controversial as well because they were running this Rainbow Farm, which was like the start of this Woodstock-style festival that was bringing all these people together, advocating for legalizing marijuana. It was also such a loving place. They were attracting a lot of attention from local authorities, and a lot of controversies were going on down there. It all happened before 9/11, so there are many people who don’t know this story. But I’ve known about it for six years or something. I’ve been tracking it through different evolutions, and it finally landed with Justin. I was tracking him now for two years to basically give me a chance, and finally, I think we’ve got to go and find all the other people.”

As for “The Brutalist,” Stan was announced to star in Brady Corbet’s Golden Globe Best Picture winner in 2019, but scheduling changes on “The Apprentice” interfered. (“The Brutalist” shot in early 2023; “The Apprentice” didn’t film until that fall after a few false starts.) Stan would’ve played Joe Alwyn’s role, Harry Lee Van Buren, the pompous son of Guy Pearce’s moneyed industrialist who exploits Adrien Brody’s Jewish-Hungarian architect.

“I’m glad that the timing [didn’t work out] … The difficulty of that movie is astounding. What they were able to achieve. Some of us would be attached. I was sort of the last one, but then [Corbet] started to go. Because ‘Apprentice’ kept getting pushed, those two started to overlap at one point. I wasn’t available for it, but having seen the movie, Joe is amazing in it, and I would have been too old by that point anyway. I feel like it worked out for the best. It makes total sense with Guy being his father,” Stan said.

As for how Stan’s indie roles fit into the Marvel orbit, especially as he’ll be seen in “Thunderbolts” this spring again as Bucky Barnes, he said, “If I hadn’t had so many opportunities with Marvel with that character alone and creatively what I got to do, I don’t know if I would have been as driven to go in this other direction as well and try to find things that I’m not always at the top of mind for. I believe, like Brady Corbet, films are a directors’ medium. It is about the filmmaker. We have to trust the filmmakers. The best films to me, in my experiences, were with really strong directors with these strong points of view. It’s been amazing to watch Brady. I was attached to that film for a long time, going back to 2019, so I’ve known of that movie and have known Brady since we were kids auditioning. I would see him at casting calls, him and his mom. Even watching him up there on Sunday felt like I’d been weirdly attached to that story as well.”

Jan
13

Photo/Video: Variety – Award Circuit Podcast

Sebastian recorded an appearance on Variety’s Award Circuit Podcast – for the article and audio click Variety – Awards Circut Podcast – Article/Audio.

Jan
13

Audio/Photos/News: Sebastian Stan on Why Playing Donald Trump Was the ‘Hardest Thing’ He’s Ever Done and How ‘Thunderbolts*’ Is Like Marvel’s ‘The Breakfast Club’

Variety

Note: You can find the screencaps of the video version of the podcast (on spotify) here: Variety – Awards Circut Podcast [Screen Captures]

When Sebastian Stan greets you, there’s an earnest warmth in his voice that makes you forget, even for a moment, the intensity of the roles he’s embodied this past year. The 41-year-old actor is riding high on a wave of critical acclaim for his two vastly different but equally daring performances in “The Apprentice” and “A Different Man,” which earned him double Golden Globe nominations — a feat last achieved by Ryan Gosling in 2016.

This past year, Stan has proven, yet again, why he’s one of the most transformative actors working today. From donning prosthetics and exploring themes of self-acceptance in “A Different Man” to stepping into the psyche of one of the most polarizing figures in modern history for “The Apprentice,” Stan’s ability to disappear into a role is matched only by his determination to tell complicated stories, no matter the fallout.

If “A Different Man” was a personal exploration, “The Apprentice” was a social experiment. Directed by Ali Abbasi, the film is a biographical character study of a young Donald Trump, focusing on his formative years and the traits that would eventually define his presidency. For Stan, stepping into Trump’s skin was not just an artistic challenge but a minefield of public and industry scrutiny.

“This film has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Stan tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “Not just because of the complexities of playing Trump, but because of the reaction it provokes.”

From the controversy surrounding its financier to the polarized reception tied to its release during an election year, “The Apprentice’s” journey to the screen was riddled with obstacles.

Stan is refreshingly candid about the hesitance he faced within Hollywood, both during the film’s production and in its aftermath. “I had people telling me not to do it,” he recalls. “They said it might alienate people, that I didn’t look like him, that it was too dangerous. But for me, acting is about going toward the uncomfortable… about trying to understand humanity, even in the darkest places.”

He carefully clarifies that “The Apprentice” isn’t about sympathizing with Trump but understanding him. “I think people interpret understanding as an attempt to sympathize, and that’s not the goal here. The film asks: would you trust this man? Would you put your life in his hands?”

Stan’s deep dive into Trump’s psyche revealed something even darker than he anticipated. “He’s given people permission to lose their humanity — to behave in ways they wouldn’t have before. And that’s what scares me the most,” Stan says. “The opposite of love isn’t hate — it’s indifference. And I worry about the indifference we’re seeing now.”

The backlash surrounding “The Apprentice” extended even to Stan’s professional relationships. When invited to participate in Variety’s Actors on Actors series, organizers struggled to find actors willing to pair with him due to his portrayal of Trump. Stan calls it a disappointing but unsurprising moment, emblematic of the discomfort many in Hollywood feel about engaging with the film publicly.

“It’s been revealing to see how hesitant people are,” Stan says. “I’ve had people come up to me at parties, saying it’s their favorite film of the year, but when it comes to supporting it publicly, there’s silence. That part of it has been tough.”

Still, there have been bright spots. People like Paul Walter Hauser, Stan’s “I, Tonya” co-star and friend, posted publicly on social media offering to partner with him for the Actors on Actors segment. That support did not go unnoticed by Stan. “That was awesome,” Stan says with a laugh. “Paul’s someone I’ve always admired, and moments like that remind me of the camaraderie that still exists in this industry.”

With “A Different Man” and “The Apprentice” firmly establishing Stan as a fearless actor, he’s looking ahead to new challenges. He’s currently developing a film adaptation of Ed Brubaker’s graphic novel “Reckless” and working on a project with celebrated filmmaker Cristian Mungiu.

And then there’s Marvel, of course. Stan is set to reprise his role as Bucky Barnes in the upcoming “Thunderbolts.” Describing the film as a misfit-driven story in the vein of “The Breakfast Club,” Stan hints at the humor and camaraderie fans can expect. “It’s a weird group thrown together, and I think people are going to love it,” he teases.

Regarding if he’ll appear in the upcoming “Captain America” sequel: “[Filming] ‘Thunderbolts*’, let me tell you, it was a much quieter year for me because I didn’t see Anthony Mackie. So, I’ll say that. Although I miss Anthony Mackie like daily, and it’s something I don’t like to admit.”

But for now, Stan is embracing the quieter moments. Speaking before the holidays, he was focused on trying to carve out time for family and last-minute gift shopping. “I’m usually pretty good with presents,” he says with a grin. “But this year, it’s been a little out of mind. I’ll put a day aside and figure it out on the fly.”

Little did he know during this conversation that a surprise win at the Golden Globes for “A Different Man” would be in his future. And it was well deserved.

Also on this episode, the Roundtable talks about this year’s Golden Globe Awards winners and what it means for the upcoming Oscar race.