Sebastian Stan, who is most recognised for playing The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes in several Marvel Cinematic Universe projects, is now playing a completely different character: a young Donald Trump.
According to report, Principal photography on the ensemble feature, which stars Stan alongside Jeremy Strong from Succession and Maria Bakalova from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is set to begin this week.
The film will follow Trump as he builds his real estate company in New York during the 1970s and 1980s, “also digging into his relationship with infamous attorney Roy Cohn,” according to a report from Deadline. According to reports, Bakalova will play Ivana, Trump’s first wife, and Strong will play Cohn.
A statement from the production states, “The Apprentice is an exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit.” “It’s a mentor-protege story that charts the origins of an American dynasty. Filled with larger than life characters, it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers.”
Ali Abbasi, the filmmaker of the highly acclaimed Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider, will helm The Apprentice. The script was written by Gabriel Sherman, the same writer of The Loudest Voice in the Room, a 2019 Showtime miniseries starring Russell Crowe and based on the life of former Fox News president Roger Ailes.
Stan made his MCU debut in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, as Bucky Barnes, Captain America’s (Chris Evans) boyhood best friend who was brainwashed into becoming a supersoldier. In the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he would play the same character again.
However, he has also been rather active since the MCU, having been nominated for an Emmy in the Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy for his portrayal of Tommy Lee. He most recently starred in the horror-thriller Fresh from last year, as well as Dumb Money, which documents the GameSpot short squeeze of 2021.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Strong finished up his major role as Kendall Roy in Succession. Bakalova starred in The Bubble and Bodies Bodies Bodies before receiving an Oscar nomination for Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm in 2021.