Sebastian Stanhas made a name for himself playing everything from Marvel’s beloved Bucky Barnes to the enigmaticTommy Leein Hulu’sPam & Tommy,but his 2024 biopicThe Apprentice, where he took on the controversial role ofDonald Trump, left audiences divided, andthe box office takings seemed to hammer home that fact.
Despite receiving an impressive 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 84% from audiences, theAli Abbasi-directed film was a box office bomb, earning only $12 million worldwide, and Abbasi has now spoken out on the box office failure, adding that he doesn’t understand why. In fact, earlier today, both Stan andJeremy Strong(asRoy Cohn) received Golden Globe nominations for their performances, but why did the film fail to find an audience? Speaking withThe Playlist, Abbasi attempted to answer that question.
I’m disappointed and shocked about the reception in the U.S. of “The Apprentice.” What I’m really shocked about is that the movie is being considered controversial. I’ve said this many times, I still don’t understand. I mean, you’re dealing with someone who is like, it’s like he’s the encyclopedia entry of World Controversial, Donald Trump. I don’t know what’s controversial about the movie.
One potential factor is timing, which may have counted against the movie. With constant media coverage of Trump dominating the news cycle, audiences may have felt oversaturated (imagine the thought?) andopted for escapist entertainment instead, rather than having to deal with even more Trump somewhere they wanted to avoid him, and even Stan’s transcendent performance wasn’t good enough to help the box office.
How Did Sebastian Stan Play Donald Trump?
Stan spoke to Collider’sSteve Weintraubpreviously, while promoting the movie, and said that the biggest challenge of playing Trump, whose rise to success is documented in unflinching fashion in the movie, was trying to find “the human being” inside of him.
“I had to find a way to introduce him in a way that I felt hadn’t been introduced yet and try to find the human being,” he said, “Try to ground it in as much in reality as possible. So I did actually watch as much as I could of what everybody else was doing. Maybe somebody else would have taken it in a different direction.We wanted this to be as grounded and as real as possible.”
The Apprenticeis available to buy on digital and on-demand now. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on all your favourite movies and television series.
The Apprentice
In 1970s New York, a young Donald Trump, an ambitious heir of a wealthy family, is mentored by Roy Cohn, a ruthless attorney. Under Cohn’s influence, Trump navigates the complexities of power and ambition, shaping his future persona through a relentless pursuit of success and dominance.
