Collider – Sebastian Stan Found “Strange Parallels” Between ‘A Different Man’ and ‘The Apprentice’

A Different Man, the latest from writer-director Aaron Schimberg, is a darkly comedic A24 thriller that reunites him with actor Adam Pearson, who led his previous feature, the acclaimed Chained for Life. The collaboration was such a positive experience that Schimberg immediately offered to work together again, and once the script came through, Pearson quips to Collider’s Steve Weintraub, “It’s the most Schimberg thing I’ve ever read.” Finally, co-stars Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve came aboard, and the stage was set.

The stage, of course, being for the stage play written by Edward’s (Stan) neighbor and writer, Ingrid (Reinsve). A Different Man is the story of timid Edward, an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis (NF1) who undergoes radical facial reconstruction surgery in hopes of a miraculous new life. Post-surgery, Edward feels more confident and earns the starring role in Ingrid’s play, only to be upstaged by Oswald (Pearson), a man with the same condition but whose disfigurement doesn’t seem to affect his personality. Once again, Edward’s sense of self is thrown into a spiral, but how do you reconfigure an identity crisis?

During this interview, Weintraub speaks with Pearson and Stan on the film’s reception across the festival circuit. They discuss getting involved with the project, surprise on-set cameos, working with Schimberg on a 22-day shoot, and how difficult it is to get movies like this one made. They also talk about how A Different Man isn’t looking to change the way anyone thinks, its lack of narrative hand-holding, and how to start conversations without the fear of not being “politically correct” enough.

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