Sebastian Stan said he found it difficult to lose mannerisms he learned playing Donald Trump in The Apprentice when returning to his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The Romanian-born actor stars as the former US president in the upcoming film from Ali Abbasi, which follows the story of Mr Trump’s career as a real estate businessman in the 1970s and 1980s.
After filming, Stan reprised his role as Bucky Barnes in a new Marvel film titled Thunderbolts, set for release in May next year.
“I went off to Marvel after (The Apprentice),” Stan told British GQ.
“And we were doing scenes, and I would do something, a thing or two, and be like, ‘f***! This is still living somewhere’.”
Stan, who previously said he gained 15 pounds over two months in order to play Mr Trump, addressed the sporadic nature of production on The Apprentice – set for release in the UK on October 18.
He said the project came so close to overlapping with the Marvel film that he had to start getting superhero fit, only for Thunderbolts production to be postponed due to the Hollywood strikes and he again began transitioning into Mr Trump.
“I’m f***ing 41, I just worked pretty hard to get in shape here,” he joked with British GQ.
Stan drank Coca-Cola and ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches as part of his routine to transform into the character, as well as listening to hours of tapes of Mr Trump.
“It just sort of ends up taking over your life,” he said.
He also spoke about controversy surrounding the film, with it set for release ahead of the November 5 US election where Mr Trump will bid for his second term as president, against current vice-president Kamala Harris.
“You can’t not think about it,” he said.
“But I had tremendous trust in Ali Abbasi and his vision for the movie. And it is an important story – I think the movie makes a great attempt at exploring: how did we get here?
“But I approached it with the same responsibility as I approached anything I ever got involved with, which is, I’m going to give this my all.
“I’m going to research the f*** out of it; I’m going to commit the f*** out of it and surrender myself to the story.”
Stan has previously played real-life characters including Tonya Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly opposite Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, and Tommy Lee in Pam & Tommy starring Lily James.
Stan is best known for his Marvel role, the Winter Soldier, in the Captain America and Avengers Marvel film series.
He also featured in the TV series Gossip Girl as Carter Baizen, and had roles in 2015’s The Martian with Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain and 2017 film Logan Lucky starring Channing Tatum and Daniel Craig.
