Sebastian Stan discusses Marvel career and new film Fjord in two interviews
In interviews with Collider and IndieWire, Sebastian Stan talks about 15 years as Bucky Barnes in Marvel, the shaved-head transformation for Cristian Mungiu's Fjord, and the film's themes.
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The story, neutrally told
Mixed · 2Sebastian Stan gave interviews to Collider (published 10 October) and IndieWire (published 12 October) to promote Fjord, a Neon release directed by Cristian Mungiu. ColliderN “Neon’s Fjord, with lauded writer-director Cristian Mungiu, however, is a collaboration a long time in the making.” Read at Collider ↗ IndieWireLC “For the moment, on a warm fall day, Stan talks about “Fjord” at Neon’s lower Manhattan offices.” Read at IndieWire ↗ Mixed · 2In Fjord, Stan plays Mihai Gheorghiu, a devout Christian who moves his family from Romania to a rural Norwegian town with his wife Lisbet, played by Renate Reinsve; their religious practices draw scrutiny, and when allegations of abuse emerge, local child protection services take the children away to investigate. ColliderN “Stan stars in Fjord as Mihai Gheorghiu, a family man and devout Christian who moves his family from Romania to a rural Norwegian town with his wife Lisbet (Reinsve).” Read at Collider ↗ IndieWireLC “the local child protection services take their children away in order to investigate suspected physical abuse.” Read at IndieWire ↗ Centre · 1Stan told Collider that after 15 years as Bucky Barnes in the Marvel films, directors they admire are paying more attention, crediting films such as Fresh, A Different Man and The Apprentice, while noting they have known Mungiu for 10 years. ColliderN “I'm certainly finally getting to meet the type of directors that I've always wanted to work with, and I think finally they’re paying a little bit more attention to me than they used to.”“Cristian [Mungiu], though, I've known for 10 years, and this was an ongoing conversation.” Read at Collider ↗
Centre · 1Stan described the Bucky Barnes role as giving them a character who looked like themself, which freed them to take parts requiring physical transformation; they called such looks "quite liberating". ColliderN “These sort of different looks that these last couple of movies have required, I have found to be quite liberating in a way”“Marvel and playing the role of Bucky Barnes for 15 years also contributed to that” Read at Collider ↗ Left · 1Speaking to IndieWire, Stan said they had felt "pigeonholed" by Marvel and that their life "got smaller" on the street, though they said being recognised as Bucky still feels heartwarming. IndieWireLC “I saw somehow my life get smaller on the streets here, walking around and felt to some extent I was getting pigeonholed in this thing.”“it still happens for that character, and it’s heartwarming, and it’s amazing” Read at IndieWire ↗ Mixed · 2Stan said Mungiu insisted that neither they nor Reinsve be recognisable, and decided after camera tests to have Stan's head shaved; prosthetics were used for the teeth, and the cast and crew lived in a hotel in the village where it was shot. IndieWireLC “He was adamant that he didn’t want Renate and I to be recognized in a way that would distract from this family or the story.” Read at IndieWire ↗ ColliderN “we were living, essentially, in that house. We were living in that village that you see in the movie.” Read at Collider ↗
Left · 1Stan, who left Romania at eight, moved to Vienna and then to the US at 12, said they related to the children's experience of being different, and that about 80 percent of the crew was Romanian and welcomed them; the film has not yet been released in Romania. IndieWireLC “I left Romania when I was eight, and I went to Vienna with my mom.”“80 percent of the crew was Romanian”“I was worried when the movie would come out in Romania, which it hasn’t yet.” Read at IndieWire ↗ Mixed · 2Both interviews cover Mungiu's method of filming each scene in a single shot with no coverage, and Stan's restrained performance as a father who keeps his emotions in check under allegations. ColliderN “There's no coverage. It's all one shot, every scene.” Read at Collider ↗ IndieWireLC “he does these long one-shot, multiple takes, just one shot, no cuts scenes. I had never worked that way before.” Read at IndieWire ↗ Centre · 1On the film's themes, Stan told Collider that Fjord can be applied to the Middle East and to US borders, with families torn apart and extremism and absolutism driving people apart; audiences at Q&As have responded positively. ColliderN “can also be applied very much to what's happening in the Middle East and very much what's happening on the borders, our borders.”“It's always been incredibly positive.” Read at Collider ↗
Mixed · 2IndieWire notes Fjord won the Palme d'Or and that Stan returns as Bucky Barnes in Avengers: Doomsday on 18 December, with Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Batman: Part II due in February 2028; Collider mentions Stan is currently shooting Batman. IndieWireLC “That supporting character returns to theaters on December 18 in “Avengers: Doomsday.””“we’ll have to wait until February, 2028 to see Stan again as Harvey Dent/Two-Face” Read at IndieWire ↗ ColliderN “you're shooting Batman now — that's a long shoot.” Read at Collider ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- IndieWire's Anne Thompson presents a career profile centred on Stan's chameleon-like transformations and the political message of Fjord, with biographical detail about Stan's Romanian roots.
- Emphasis
- Awards history, physical transformations, Stan's immigrant background and upcoming Marvel and DC roles.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Less on the Q&A audience reactions and on the single-shot filming discussed by Collider is only briefly covered.
- Charged language
- “once and future Avenger”
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Collider's interview frames Stan as finally being seen differently by Hollywood after 15 years in Marvel, with Fjord as a film long in the making.
- Emphasis
- Career perception, the liberating effect of altered looks, Q&A reactions and the film's single-shot style.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not give Stan's Romanian upbringing or Marvel 'pigeonholing' remarks that IndieWire includes.
- Charged language
- “fantastic new movie”
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Stan stars in Neon's Fjord, directed by Cristian Mungiu, opposite Renate Reinsve.
- Stan played Bucky Barnes in Marvel for about 15 years.
- Mungiu films scenes in long single shots.
- Stan's look in Fjord, including a shaved head, was a major physical transformation.
Sebastian Stan person
Stan says Marvel gave them freedom but also left them feeling pigeonholed, that recent transformative roles are liberating, and that Fjord's themes of extremism and families torn apart apply to current world events.
“felt to some extent I was getting pigeonholed in this thing.” — IndieWire
“It's also in the same elements where extremism and absolutism are driving people apart” — Collider
Left1 article
-
Sympathetic Profile-style interview highlighting Stan's transformations, Romanian heritage and Fjord's political message.
Centre1 article
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Sebastian Stan Says Hollywood Is Finally Looking at Him Differently After 15 Years in Marvel
Sympathetic Admiring Q&A-style interview presenting Fjord and Stan's post-Marvel career as a new chapter.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 10 Oct 07:45 First ColliderN Sebastian Stan Says Hollywood Is Finally Looking at Him Differently After 15 Years in Marvel
- 12 Oct 15:30 +55h 45m IndieWireLC Sebastian Stan on ‘Batman: Part II,’ the Political Message of ‘Fjord,’ and Transforming Himself on Screen
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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