Sebastian Stan explains his physical transformation into Donald Trump for his new movie, The Apprentice. Directed by Ali Abbasi and written by Gabriel Sherman, the upcoming film follows the early years of Trump’s career as a real estate businessman in New York during the 1970s under the mentorship of the infamous Roy Cohn, who was Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Senate hearings. MCU star Sebastian Stan leads The Apprentice cast as Donald Trump alongside Succession‘s Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, Maria Bakalova, and Martin Donovan.
During a recent interview with Variety, Sebastian Stan discussed his transformation into Donald Trump for The Apprentice at length. The actor meticulously prepared to play Trump by studying hundreds of videos and photos spanning decades, focusing on his physicality, speech patterns, and improvisational style. He even practiced altering his speech to emulate Trump’s unique way of forming consonants. Read Stan’s comments below:
I had 130 videos on his physicality on my phone. And 562 videos that I had pulled with pictures from different time periods — from the ’70s all the way to today — so I could pull out his speech patterns and try to improvise like him. Ali could come in on the second take and say, “Why don’t you talk a little bit about the taxes and how you don’t want to pay?” So I had to know what charities they were going to in 1983. Every night I would go home and try not only to prepare for the day that was coming, but also to prepare for where Ali was going to take this.
I started to realize that I needed to start speaking with my lips in a different way. A lot of that came from the consonants. If I’m talking, I’m moving forward. The consonants naturally forced your lips forward. If this movie is not happening, it’s because it’s not meant to happen. It will not be because I’m too scared and walk away.
Appearing on Variety‘s series in which actors guess lines from their most famous movies and TV shows, Stan also acknowledged the difficulty of capturing Trump’s voice. Watch the portion of the video below, starting at the 6:00 minute mark:
Stan studied various impressions and archival footage, particularly from Trump’s younger years when he spoke more clearly. Despite his efforts, the actor is uncertain about the accuracy of his portrayal and is indifferent to how it’s received. Read his comments below:
I don’t know if I got the voice right. I mean here’s the thing, we are dealing with someone we’re seeing 24/7. Everyone’s got an opinion about this person. I watched everything I could find, anyone that’s ever done an impression of him, I’ve seen it. It definitely helped that I was playing him when he was much younger and if you go back and you look at those times, he sounded different. He spoke much more clearly. He actually sounded really smart and coherent. I did my best. I don’t know. Some people will think that was good or some people will think it’s shit. I don’t care.
Why Sebastian Stan Prepared So Much To Play Donald Trump In The Apprentice
His Extensive Research Allowed Him To Improvise While Staying In Character
Sebastian Stan prepared extensively to play Donald Trump in The Apprentice, perhaps more than any other role he has ever undertaken, studying his physicality and speech patterns through hundreds of videos and photos. Stan’s extensive research helped him improvise while staying in character as, during filming, director Ali Abbasi would often ask him to ad-lib scenes based on real-life details. Stan had to be ready for this spontaneous direction, such as discussing Trump’s taxes, and prepared nightly to anticipate the day’s next challenges.
Related
Sebastian Stan’s Best Movies, Ranked
Sebastian Stan is most famous for playing Bucky Barnes in the MCU, but the talented actor has also starred in Oscar-winning movies like I, Tonya.
Mimicking Trump’s unique speech pattern was especially challenging for Stan. Adjusting how he moved his lips, particularly influenced by consonants, was crucial for accuracy. However, despite Stan’s extensive research and effort, he is uncertain about the authenticity of his portrayal. He acknowledges that opinions on his performance will vary, given the vast opinions there are of Trump himself, and has a nonchalant attitude about potential criticism, emphasizing his commitment to the role despite any doubts about the outcome.
Our Take On Sebastian Stan’s Performance As Donald Trump
It Attempts To Humanize, Not Demonize
Despite that Donald Trump is a highly divisive political figure, The Apprentice, and by extension, Sebastian Stan’s performance, does not attempt to demonize its subject. Instead, the movie is intended as an exploration of Trump’s origin story under the tutelage of Roy Cohn and the other forces and ideas that shaped him. Avoiding parody or mockery, Stan’s performance is not a caricature, but instead intends to provide an accurate and ultimately humanizing depiction of Donald Trump. Stan seems to have succeeded, with The Apprentice reviews unanimously praising his performance.
The Apprentice releases in theaters on October 11.
Source: Variety
