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Sebastian Stan receives Golden Globe nomination for controversial Trump biopic amid Hollywood pushback

The president-elect called the film a ‘fake and classless movie’

Lydia Spencer-Elliott
Monday 09 December 2024 23:45 EST
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The Apprentice (Trump biopic) - trailer 2

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Sebastian Stan has been nominated for two Golden Globe awards amid controversy over his latest project.

The I, Tonya actor, 42, was put forward for the Best Actor gongs in the Comedy or Musical and Drama categories for Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man and Ali Abbasi’s controversial Trump biopic The Apprentice.

Stan stars as Trump in the divisive film about the president elect’s early days as a real estate tycoon and his relationship with lawyer Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.

The movie, which received mixed reviews and was released prior to the US election on 5 November, received strong backlash from Trump himself, branding the people involved “human scum”.

Fans were quick to celebrate Stan’s nominations, which came days after the actor revealed fellow Hollywood actors had swerved a group interview with him due to his role as Trump.

“Oh Sebastian double nomination this year, lets gooo,” one person wrote on X/Twitter.

“I love this for him,” a second user added. “He gave two of the best performances this year and I’m glad they’re not being overlooked.”

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in ‘The Apprentice’
Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in ‘The Apprentice’ (Studio Canal)

During a recent Q&A about The Apprentice the Marvel star said that he was unable to take part in Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series due to others being unwilling to talk about Trump.

“I couldn’t find another actor to do it with me, because they were too afraid to go and talk about this movie. So I couldn’t do it,” explained the 42-year-old.

“You know, I’ve got to do a lot of great things, and that’s not pointing at anyone specific,” Stan added.

“It was… we couldn’t get past the publicists or the people representing them, because [they were] too afraid to talk about this movie.”

“And it’s like, that’s when I think we lose the situation,” he continued. “Because if it really becomes like that - fear or that discomfort to talk about this - then we’re really going to have a problem.”

Sebastian Stan in ‘A Different Man’
Sebastian Stan in ‘A Different Man’ (A24)

Elsewhere on the Golden Globes nomination list, Kate Winslet is also in contention for two awards, thanks to her lead role in Ellen Kura’ Lee Miller biopic Lee and the HBO political drama The Regime.

Meanwhile, Selena Gomez was also nominated twice for her divisive turn in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez and for Only Murders in The Building in the TV category.

Films in contention for trophies at the forthcoming ceremony include hit musical Wicked, Sean Baker’s Palme d’or-winning Anora and Brady Corbet’s epic drama The Brutalist, which was hailed a “masterpiece” after its festival premiere. The latter received seven nominations.

You can find the full list of Golden Globe 2025 nominations here.

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