Sebastian Stan went from an MCU darling to serious actor in one awards season.
This fall, Stan stars in “A Different Man,” a black comedy about a disfigured actor whose life is transformed following a medical procedure. He’s also the main character in “The Apprentice,” The Hollywood hit piece based on Donald Trump’s formative years.
By all accounts the man known as the MCU’s Winter Soldier is excellent in two very different roles. So the team at Variety magazine asked Stan to be part of its annual “Actors on Actors” series. The chats pair two awards-season hopefuls to discuss their films, their craft and more.
Stan agreed to the opportunity but ran into a roadblock. No other actor wanted to join him in a conversation.
Why? The answer is almost too surreal to believe, but it’s true. Call it the latest manifestation of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
“I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie, so I couldn’t do it. And it doesn’t matter, that’s OK, that’s not to point a finger at anybody. That’s not pointing at anyone specific, we couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them because they were too afraid to talk about this movie.”
Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh confirms Stan’s account.
“What Sebastian said is accurate,” Setoodeh said 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.”
Hollywood has spent eight-plus years talking about Trump, often in the most negative way possible.
- He’s a fascist!
- He’s Hitler 2.0!
- He’ll end America as we know it!
Now, two weeks after Trump’s re-election, the same industry players are afraid to bring him up in polite conversation.
Why?
The progressive pain is too real, too raw, and they can’t broach the subject at this time. That’s one theory. Another is based on liberal projection.
They’re afraid speaking ill of Trump now will either hurt their careers or invoke the President-Elect’s wrath. It’s not unlike the reasoning behind the “Morning Joe” team meeting Trump over the weekend for an off-the-record chat.
The “Ruthless” podcast said Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski made peace with Trump to avoid his administration targeting their show or, worse, them personally.
They fear President-Elect Trump will round up his perceived enemies, using the power of government to do his personal bidding. Trump did no such thing during his first four years in office.
There’s no tangible evidence he’ll do so now.
Heck, Trump graciously invited Team “Morning Joe” to meet with him in person instead of plotting their incarceration or similar punishments. Remember, the duo said the most unflattering things about Trump for seven-odd years.
Actors may share that Scarborough/Brzezinski fear. It’s similar to what the Biden/Harris administration has done to its political enemies over the past four years. Said administration labeled concerned parents “domestic terrorists” for disagreeing with public school policies. It committed extreme lawfare against President Trump and anyone without spitting distance of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Anyone who doubted Team Biden’s COVID-19 protocols faced Big Tech censors, in conjunction with the White House.
Some stars may fear Trump will behave in a similar fashion.
No matter the rationale, it’s the latest example of Hollywood’s inability to process Trump’s hold on the body politic.
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