Sebastian Stan Says Hollywood Doesn’t Want to Talk About Trump

"I had an offer to do Variety Actors on Actors this Friday, and I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me," the actor revealed at a recent screening of The Apprentice.

By Audra Heinrichs | November 21, 2024 | 9:59am

Photo: Getty Images Celebrities Dirt Bag

Sebastian Stan Says Hollywood Doesn’t Want to Talk About Trump

Well, Sebastian Stan starred in one of the fall’s buzziest films but don’t expect to see him featured in Variety‘s Actors on Actors series this year. Why? Apparently, Hollywood’s publicists are just too chickenshit to let their clients talk about anything related to president-elect Donald Trump—not even a far more handsome guy’s portrayal of him.

This week, the actor delivered the news to the audience at an L.A. screening of The Apprentice.

Most Popular

“The amount of love that I’ve received from some of the biggest, in terms of actors, directors, producers, and writers, who have seen the movie, and they rave about it,” Stan said. “But then, for instance, I had an offer to do Variety Actors on Actors this Friday, and I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me.”

“They were too afraid to go and talk about this movie, so I couldn’t do it,” he went on. “You know, I’ve got to do a lot of great things, and that’s not pointing at anyone specific. It was…we couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them, because [they were] too afraid to talk about this movie.”

Publicists forbidding their clients to discuss even a movie about Trump for fear of retribution (or potentially revealing some unsavory and unsellable views)? Not to be dramatic but that kind of sounds like early-stage authoritarianism…

“What Sebastian said is accurate,” Variety co-editor Ramin Setoodeh confirmed to Deadline in a statement. “We invited him 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.” Frankly, what a missed opportunity.

If—like me—you’ve yet to see it, Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice charts Trump’s early career, including his relationship with fixer Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat former attorney for nationalist Sen. Joe McCarthy and, later, for mob bosses. According to reviews, the film “contains several disturbing and profoundly unflattering scenes, including a sequence where he rapes his first wife Ivana, gets liposuction and surgery for his bald spot, becomes addicted to diet pills, and betrays the trust of many of those closest to him.” (Ivana made that allegation in a 1990 divorce deposition, but later recanted.) Last month, Trump—who likely never actually saw the film—called it a “cheap, defamatory and politically disgusting hatchet job.”

Meanwhile, one valiant actor has since stepped in to say that he would’ve gladly spoken with Stan had he only been called.

“I’ll do it?” Paul Walter Hauser tweeted alongside an article about the news on Wednesday. Hell yeah. After his performance in Richard Jewel? Let him and Stan cook!

Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi have become ex-pats since Trump’s re-election. [Page Six]
“I’m a small party person, but I do like a rave” – Nicole Kidman. [Us Weekly]
Lady Gaga and Shawn Mendes were almost cast in Wicked. I actually can see them crying and holding each other throughout the entire press cycle, to be honest. [BuzzFeed]
Now, Ryan Murphy…was Ed Gein really this hot? [People]
Addison Rae with the only correct take on portraying Britney Spears in a biopic: “I honestly don’t think anyone deserves to play Britney.” [Daily Mail]
What is it about actors with storied mean girl allegations being cast in Colleen Hoover adaptations??? [Variety]
Ron Livingston aka Jack “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me” Berger once had to hide from rabid Sex and the City fans. [The Hollywood Reporter]