You’re…hired?
Sebastian Stan has been cast to portray a young Donald Trump in the upcoming film The Apprentice, as reported by Deadline. The aptly titled project, which shares the same name as the reality show hosted by Trump for a decade-plus, will explore how the controversial figure built his real estate business in the 1970s and ’80s.
41-year-old Stan, best known for his role as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is no stranger to projects based on true stories. In 2022 he starred as Tommy Lee in the Pam & Tommy miniseries, and this year appeared as Robinhood cofounder Vlad Tenev in Dumb Money. The new film will also star Borat 2 standout Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump.
The Apprentice will center around the relationship between the former president and his mentor Roy Cohn, who will be played by Succession star and Emmy winner Jeremy Strong. Cohn represented Trump and his father Fred in a 1973 lawsuit brought forth by the Justice Department for allegedly preventing Black people from renting apartments at one of their buildings. According to NPR, both sides reached a settlement two years later without an admission of guilt from Trump. Cohn attempted to countersue the Justice Department for $100 million over false statements, but the suit was thrown out.
Cohn also served as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy amid the Lavender Scare, an absurd claim that gay people infiltrated the U.S. government and posed a threat to national security. Cohn died in 1986 at the age of 59 from complications with AIDS, despite claims that his deteriorated state was caused by liver cancer.
The Apprentice will be directed by Ali Abbasi, who previously helmed two episodes of the HBO series The Last of Us. The script will be written by Gabriel Sherman, author of The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News – and Divided a Country.
