Although Sebastian Stan is arguably best known for portraying Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actor is also quite experienced with playing real-life individuals. He most recently did this in the 2023 movie release Dumb Money, where he played Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood Markets. Now word’s come in that Stan is on deck to play former US president Donald Trump in an upcoming movie, and now I can’t unsee the resemblance.
To be clear, Stan is not playing a present-day Trump, but rather the man back in the ‘70s and ‘80s when he was building his real estate empire. This casting news comes to us from Deadline, which also shared that this movie is called The Apprentice, although Variety is saying that it’s actually called The Student. Whatever the title is, this movie will also explore the relationship between Trump and his attorney Roy Cohn, who died in 1986.
Stan will reportedly be joined in The Apprentice/The Student by Succession’s Jeremy Strong and Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova, with the former playing Cohn and the latter playing Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana. Behind the scenes, Cannes-winner Ali Abbasi is directing, Gabriel Sherman wrote the script and production reportedly began this week. Here’s the project’s logline that Variety shared:
‘The Student’ 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.
While I would never have thought of Sebastian Stan and Donald Trump at the same time before today, looking at the two side by side, I can understand why the former was cast as the latter. The facial structure is similar, so if you’re going to select a Hollywood star to play Trump in his 30s and 40s, Stan is a solid pick. However, obviously it’s necessary to reserve judgement on if he’ll do the role justice until at least some footage is released.
In addition to his recent outing as Vlad Tenev, other real-life individuals Stan has played include Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya (which can be streamed with a Max subscription) and Tommy Lee in Pam & Tommy (which is exclusive to Hulu subscribers). The actor’s other recent credits include The 355, Fresh, Sharper and Ghosted, and he’ll next be seen in the A24 thriller A Different Man, although it doesn’t have a specific release date yet. Additionally, Stan will reprised Bucky Barnes in Thunderbolts, one of the many upcoming Marvel movies.
CinemaBlend will continue covering The Apprentice/The Student (seriously, what is this movie called?) as more details come in. For now though, consult our 2024 movies calendar to learn what cinematic entertainment awaits in the coming year.