Playing Donald Trump on film seems to have its price. Two years after "The apprentice", Sebastian Stan has not quite managed to shake off the role of the young real estate puppy.
- Apart from my own psychological problems and the therapy bills, maybe I wouldn't talk about lasting but, he says with a twinkle in his eye before he gets a little more serious:
- However, I got sky high cholesterol values after I drank copious amounts of Coca-Cola every day to get into the role. I'm still working on trying to get my blood counts down. As you can see, I only drink water now, he smiles and nods towards a bottle of French mineral water on the table.
The Romanian-born Hollywood star sits in a garden in Cannes after the world premiere of Christian Mungiu's "Fjord", which later won the Palme d'Or. After "The Apprentice", Stan has, ironically enough, again found himself in the middle of the culture war - this time in a drama about the collision between traditional and progressive values.
In the film, he plays a Romanian IT specialist and a strictly religious family man with repressed aggression who, together with his Norwegian wife (Renate Reinsve) and their five children, move to a village in Northern Norway. After school staff discover bruises on the daughter's body, the Norwegian authorities intervene and take the children into custody, leading to a protracted and grueling legal process.
- Christian Mungiu has a unique ability to portray moral gray areas and difficult questions without a safety net. "Fjord" does not take a stand, but tries to make the characters human rather than representatives of different political camps, says Sebastian Stan.
He has wanted to work with the Romanian master director ever since he was knocked out by the abortion drama "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days", which won the Palme d'Or in 2007. For Sebastian Stan, "Fjord" was also a deeply personal return to his Romanian roots. At the age of eight, the family left the country to move to Vienna and then on to the United States. He describes his upbringing as "quite traditionally Romanian" and believes that his roots have become increasingly important over the years.
- Playing in Romanian was like using another part of the brain, or like writing with the left hand. But I also discovered how different cultures are linked to language, says Stan, who became a father this summer.
After the years as a Marvel star, he has turned to more director-driven independent films, projects where he - in his own words - "risks failing": "I, Tonya", "A different man" and "The apprentice". Over the years, he has developed an allergy to films that spoon-feed the audience ready-made truths. He was attracted to Christian Mungius's coolly observational aesthetic â even if it presented a great challenge.
- His minimalistic and naturalistic film language requires us actors to keep the emotional pressure up during long takes. In the US, we've gotten used to being saved by close-ups and clips, but here you have to carry the feeling longer. His films are almost like plays, says Sebastian Stan.
"Fjord" is partly inspired by the internationally recognized Bodnariu case from 2015, where the children of a Romanian-Norwegian family were taken into care by Norwegian authorities. For Mungiu, the film becomes a kind of stress test for the tolerance limits of liberal society: how tolerant is a society towards values ââit deeply dislikes?
In the US, some commentators were quick to label the film as "Maga propaganda" - a critique of "liberal supremacy", "political correctness" and "state interference in family life".
Sebastian Stan takes it easy. He believes that "Fjord" is not a film that takes a stand for one side or the other, but a story about what happens when beliefs turn into fundamentalism.
- Basically, it is a universal story that extremism does not work. It depicts what can happen when you believe that you are alone in the truth and have the right to impose your views on others. That kind of thinking solves nothing in the long run, he says.
When we meet, he has just made headlines at the Cannes press conference after coming out and warning against Donald Trump. He simply wants to downplay his role as an opinion maker.
- For me, it is my work, the work, which is the real statement. But if someone asks a question, I answer. However, I don't like how statements are sensationalized today. People see four seconds on their phones of something you said, but neither read the whole interview nor take in the context. Everything is reduced to clickbait.
Having said that, he is genuinely concerned about both the White House's attacks on the free media and freedom of expression. He even draws parallels to the McCarthy-era witch hunts when many screenwriters were forced to sign under pseudonyms.
- Even then it was about censorship, threats to freedom of expression and pressure on the free media. But just like in the McCarthy era, the important thing is that people don't stop working.
Stan firmly believes in the film's ability to create empathy.
- In the end, we are human, and the decisive factor is whether we can empathize or not. It is more important than just being right or wrong. But sometimes you also have to speak up and remind that it's okay to think differently - as long as we do it in a civilized way.
