Sebastian Stan Struggled to Lose Trump Character Filming Thunderbolts

Sebastian Stan worked hard to keep Donald Trump out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor said this week he struggled to drop mannerisms he learned while playing the former president in The Apprentice when he arrived on set of the MCU’s Thunderbolts.

Stan plays Trump in Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, set for release Oct. 11. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney called the performance “excellent,” saying the actor goes “beyond impersonation to capture the essence” of Trump.

In Thunderbolts, set for release in May 2025, Stan will reprise his role as Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier.

“I went off to Marvel after [The Apprentice],” Stan said in an interview with British GQ. “And we were doing scenes, and I would do something, a thing or two, and be like, ‘Fuck! This is still living somewhere.’”

Stan also shared his routine for gaining weight on The Apprentice: drinking Coca-Colas and eating lots of peanut butter and jam sandwiches. The result worked for getting into character as a young Donald Trump, but made the transformation back into superhero for Thunderbolts rather challenging. Plus, filming for both movies was affected by the writers and actors strikes, which meant Stan went periods of gaining and losing weight only for filming schedules to be postponed or changed.

“I’m fuckin’ 41,” Stan said of the back-and-forth. “I just worked pretty hard to get in shape here!”