Sebastian Stan is having a huge moment, as the actor earned a 2025 Oscars nomination for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in the movie The Apprentice.
Released in October by Briarcliff Entertainment to a muted box office response, The Apprentice landed two Academy Award nominations, including a best supporting actor nod for Jeremy Strong as late attorney Roy Cohn. The film also earned nominations for both Stan and Strong at this year’s Golden Globes. (Neither actor prevailed in those categories at the Globes, but Stan did win best actor in a comedy film this year for his role in A Different Man.)
Director Ali Abbasi helmed The Apprentice based on a script from Gabriel Sherman about Trump launching his real estate business and rising to power in New York City in the 1980s with the help of Cohn. Rounding out the cast are Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump and Martin Donovan as Trump’s dad, Fred Trump Sr.
The Apprentice was the subject of controversy following a warm reception when it premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May. Trump’s attorneys filed a cease-and-desist letter to the filmmakers and threatened to sue over future marketing or distribution of the movie. In September, The Apprentice producer Kinematics sold its stake in the film; the company is backed by Trump’s friend and former Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder, who was said to have objected to a scene in the film in which Trump rapes then-wife Ivana.
Ultimately, every major U.S. distributor and streamer passed on picking up The Apprentice despite the awards buzz generated at Cannes. The film hit theaters on Oct. 11, less than a month ahead of the election, in which Trump would defeat Kamala Harris to earn his second term as U.S. president.
Stan is competing for the best actor Oscar against Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave).
During a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that was recorded two days before the election, Stan explained why he believed that his film was the right way to send a message about Trump.
“I can sit here and tell you things you’ve heard already for, like, 30,000 hours, and it’s not really going to make a difference,” Stan said at the time. “You hear facts, we all hear information, but you don’t experience it. It’s the experience of being with this person for two hours, and seeing where he’s coming from, and really asking yourself at the end of this film, ‘Do you trust this person? Do you really trust that this guy is going to make a decision that’s going to be good for you or good for him?’”
Read the original article here