Sebastian Stan has opened up about his transformation to play Donald Trump in his upcoming film The Apprentice.
The actor, 42, revealed he gained weight for the role as he spent a month and a half indulging in ramen and peanut butter and jam sandwiches.
Appearing on this weeks’s episode of Graham Norton, Sebastian was asked about his approach to playing the former US president as he told the host: ‘I tried not to do an impersonation.
‘It is bizarre but I didn’t know if I was going to get it right and I still don’t really know. It’s just my take on the situation.
‘I also had to put on weight to play him so for a month and a half I just ate ramen with soy sauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Coca-Cola. It was a very interesting experience.’
Sebastian Stan has revealed the surprising diet he ate for a month and a half to gain weight in preparation for his latest role as Donald Trump
‘I also had to put on weight to play him so for a month and a half I just ate ramen with soy sauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with Coca-Cola. It was a very interesting experience.’
Talking about his decision to take the part he explained: ‘Naturally there were a lot of people asking, ‘”why do this” but every time I was told not to do it, all I could think about was doing it.’
In the motion picture, the Emmy-nominated actor plays the younger incarnation of Trump during the 1970s and 1980s as he attempts to establish his real estate empire on the back of his father Fred Trump’s properties.
Sebastian is joined in the cast by Succession star Jeremy Strong, 45, who plays Trump’s late lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn; and Oscar-nominated actress Maria Bakalova, 28, who will play Trump’s late ex-wife Ivana Trump.
The Apprentice is directed by the Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi, who shot the critically acclaimed Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider (2022).
Meanwhile Sebastian also spoke about other upcoming role in A Different Man which sees him play a character struggling with a facial disfigurement.
His character gets to experience what life would be like if he looked like everyone else after his condition is ‘cured’ by a medical trial.
He stars alongside British actor Adam, who plays the actor who plays the character inspired by Edward’s former self, with their relationship becoming increasingly obsessive.
He explained: ‘It is very hard to describe because it is a paranoid thriller, it is scary and it is tragic, but it is also incredibly funny.
Talking about his decision to take the part he explained: ‘Naturally there were a lot of people asking, ‘”why do this” but every time I was told not to do it, all I could think about was doing it’
In the motion picture, the Emmy-nominated actor plays the younger incarnation of Trump during the 1970s and 1980s as he attempts to establish his real estate empire on the back of his father Fred Trump’s properties
Sebastian is joined in the cast by Jeremy Strong, 45, who plays Trump’s late lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn; and Maria Bakalova, 28, (pictured) who will play Trump’s late ex-wife Ivana Trump
Sebastian also spoke about other upcoming role in A Different Man which sees him play a character struggling with a facial disfigurement (pictured in the trailer)
‘Everyone who has seen it thinks they have never seen anything like it before.’
Earlier this week the star revealed that he felt ‘isolated and scared’ while filming scenes for the movie.
Joined by Adam Pearson on Thursday’s This Morning, Sebastian told hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard that on one occasion during filming, his makeup artist Mike Marino was double booked for the day, meaning he had to do his makeup four or five hours earlier.
Sebastian said he took the opportunity to walk around the city as his character, Edward, with his prosethetics in full view.
Asked how he felt following the experience, Sebastian said: ‘It was extremely isolating. I was very scared.’
He added: ‘You stand out obviously, and there’s a powerless feeling to it – at least that was my experience.’
Earlier this week the star revealed that he felt ‘isolated and scared’ while filming scenes for the movie as he appeared on This Morning on Thursday
‘It really pointed out that we still have to normalise this idea of being different.’
Elsewhere during the interview, Adam discussed his role in the film, he said: ‘There’s no suspense or jump scare,’
‘Or any of the old tropes that we normally see around disfigurement, like villainy, victimhood or false heroism. He’s just a guy that charms his way through life.’
Sebastian chimed in by revealing their new film is ‘really special’ before calling it ‘unpredictable and a lot of fun’.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday 4th October 10.40pm. Also available on BBC iPlayer.
