Sebastian Stan was here this morning to talk about his latest movie Fjord at Cannes, however, that’s hard when the last time he was here at the fest, he was playing Donald Trump.
The Avengers actor was asked how Trump has evolve since the premiere of The Apprentice two years ago. That pic world premiered at Cannes at a time before Trump was elected for a second-time. The question drew laughs.
“It’s not a laughing matter, said Stan with a grave tone.
“I think we’re in a really, really bad place,” the actor continued.
“To be honest when you’re looking at what’s happening, if you look at the consolidation of media, censorships, the threats, the supposed lawsuits that never end but don’t go anywhere, the writing was on the wall. We encountered that with the movie. We were unsure if the movie would play the festival. Maybe people are paying more attention to that film. We went through all of that before Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert. Wish it wasn’t like that.”
Trump swore to sue the film production over a scene in the movie depicting the tycoon raping then wife Ivana Trump. He also sent a cease and desist letter to the producers to prevent the movie from being seen in America. The Apprentice opened in early October 2024 and grossed $4M in North America. Stan received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing a young Trump who rises to be a real estate baron in 1980s New York City, learning unscrupulous ways from his mentor, Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong, who also received a Supporting Actor Oscar nod).
Earlier in the press conference, when Apprentice was broached briefly, Stan responded, “still purging from that.”
Fjord follows an immigrant Romanian family living in Norway who are subject to an investigation after their daughter comes home with bruises from school. The couple, played by Stan and Renates Reinsve, face the scrutiny of the local judicial system. The movie repped a return to Stan’s Romanian roots, having been born there. In prepping for the role, he revisited the country and its Pentecostal churches; his character is a religious conservative.
The pic is Christian Mungiu’s seventh to play the festival. He’s won several awards here at Cannes, but he took home the Palme d’Or in 2007 for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
Sebastian Stan reflects on ‘The Apprentice’ and how he views President Trump now, who he portrayed in the film last time he was in #Cannes: “I think we’re in a really bad place. When you’re looking at what’s happening, like the consolidation of the media, censorship, threats and… pic.twitter.com/slKDWo7qbd
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 19, 2026
