The actor’s portrayal of Trump in the 2024 film earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor.

*The Apprentice *star Sebastian Stan reflects on Donald Trump’s presidency: ‘The writing was on the wall’

The actor's portrayal of Trump in the 2024 film earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor.

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Popsugar.

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May 19, 2026 9:42 a.m. ET

Sebastian Stan in Cannes, France; Donald Trump at White House. Credit:

Arnold Jerocki/Getty; Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty

- Sebastian Stan shared his perspective on Donald Trump's second presidency during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday.

- "I think we're in a really, really bad place. I really do," the actor told journalists of his understanding of the president after portraying Trump in the 2024 film *The Apprentice.*

- *The Apprentice* traces Trump's rise to power throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s as he goes from unsuccessful real estate heir to a symbol of American excess.

It's been two years since Sebastian Stan had to do his best to get into Donald Trump's head for his portrayal of the U.S. president in 2024's *The Apprentice*. The actor said the experience gave him a unique perspective — which proved frighteningly prescient in the wake of Trump's reelection — during a Tuesday press conference at the Cannes Film Festival.

Stan originally premiered the Ali Abbasi-helmed film at Cannes just before the 2024 election, and he has returned to the festival to share a new film. When asked how his understanding of the president has changed in that time, Stan fiercely declared that the situation is "just not a laughing matter, to be honest. It isn't."

"I think we're in a really, really bad place. I really do," the actor added in a clip shared by *Variety*.

"When you're looking at what's happening, which is the consolidation of the media, censorship, the threats, the supposed lawsuits that seemingly never end, but don't actually go anywhere, you know, the writing was on the wall," Stan said.

Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan in 'The Apprentice'.

Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment & Rich Spirit

*The Apprentice* traces Trump's rise to power throughout the late ’70s and early ’80s as he rapidly goes from unsuccessful real estate heir to a symbol of American excess under the mentorship of his infamous lawyer, Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong). In the film, Stan's character is seen getting plastic surgery, mistreating his brother, taking amphetamines, and in a particularly disturbing sequence, sexually assaulting his former wife, Ivana (played by Maria Bakalova). The latter was inspired by what Ivana once alleged happened in their 1990 divorce deposition. (She later denied her initial testimony, saying she felt "violated" but did not mean to be alleging rape "in a literal criminal sense.”)

Stan explained that Trump demanded *The Apprentice* be halted ahead of its premiere at Cannes. Shortly before the screening, Trump's campaign put out a lengthy statement calling the film "garbage" and "pure fiction." The campaign even threatened a lawsuit.

"Three days before the festival, [we were] unsure if the movie was going to play the festival," Stan revealed. "So maybe people are paying attention more to that film. I think it will stand the test of time for that. But we went through all of it, right before Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert and so on. So, I wish it wasn't like that."

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The film doesn't hold back in its portrayal of Trump as a cutthroat, power-hungry mogul who takes New York City by storm in the ’70s. Its complex portrait of the sitting president features several far-from-flattering details — which includes Stan's drastic physical transformation to capture Trump's appearance for the film, including prosthetics, several wigs, and a diet that relied pretty heavily on soy sauce and ramen.

Stan told ** in 2024 that he initially didn't see himself as the right person to play Trump on screen.

"It's funny, I felt similarly about a few things I've worked on," he said. "My initial reaction is, 'Wow, how the hell am I going to do this?'"

He added at the time that even his friends and family had urged him not to take on the role of the polarizing politician.

"I had people tell me I don't look like him. I had people tell me that it's not safe for me to do it,” Stan said. “I had people say that I shouldn't try to alienate half the country."

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Despite its thorny subject matter the film arrived to critical acclaim. Stan even picked up an Academy Award nomination for his performance, thwarting the skepticism that emerged when the project was first announced.

Watch Sebastian Stan reflect on Trump's presidency in the clip above.

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Source: “EW Festival”