Unpredictable king Sebastian Stan remains a fan fave as Bucky Barnes, but he has arguably had the most interesting outside-of-the-MCU career of his contemporaries. Of course, his striking range was obvious once he donned the Jeff Gilooly mustache for I, Tonya, but Stan has kept the unexpected choices coming, from playing a fine young cannibal in Fresh to transforming into a certain hair rocker (and talking to his own crotch) in Pam & Tommy.
Stan’s upcoming A24 film, A Different Man, however, takes him not only into physical transformation territory but on a journey that might turn his soul inside out. The Covenant star (and fortunately, he is a good sport when that film arises in conversation) portrays an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis who takes the plunge in a medical procedure, which he quickly regrets:
Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
Stan (as Edward) soon finds himself competing against Adam Pearson’s Oswald for that coveted role, which puts him on a darkly comic path that will surely lead no where predictable. After all, A24 does not miss, and Stan won the best actor award for this performance at the Berlin Film Festival.
Adam Pearson spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how he found a common thread with Stan while making the film: “[Y]ou don’t know what it’s like to have a disfigurement, but you do know what it’s like to not have privacy and to have your life constantly invaded. You become public property.’”
Directed by Aaron Schimberg, A Different Man arrives in theaters on Sept. 20.