The 42-year-old actor, who portrays Trump, talked to the Hollywood Reporter at the BFI London Film Festival premiere about the movie, which depicts Trump’s ascension in the 1970s and ’80s New York.
The film was released on Oct. 11, and with the US presidential election on Nov. 5 approaching, it begged the question of whether or not this film could actually affect Trump’s presidential campaign.
Sebastian told THR, “I don’t know, but what I do hope is that people, regardless of their opinion, are curious enough to try to dig deeper. Because I think we’re living in a world where it’s so easy to be handed an opinion everywhere you turn.”
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Sebastian added, “And I know a lot of people love social media, and that’s where they go for information and for things. You’re being told what to think. You’re being told what to do.”
According to a synopsis, the film follows young Trump who “comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today.” So far, the film has received a 79% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 85% from the audience.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star suggested that people do their own research into Trump, hoping the film will inspire that curiosity. “If you have any inkling of interest, go and really ask yourself: ‘Who is this man? Do you really know? Do you really trust this person to lead a country?'”
“He’s been trying to censor this movie, and at the same time, he claims that he acknowledges free speech. … I can’t think of anything more hypocritical,” Sebastian said. “So, at the end of the day, it’s about him as a character.”
“Forget the politics and just go in there and use your instinct and ask yourself: Do you trust this man? That’s what the movie is about.”
For context, Sebastian is possibly referring to a statement issued by Trump’s campaign after The Apprentice premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in May. In a statement issued to Variety by Steven Cheung, the Trump team threatened to file a lawsuit addressing “the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers.”
As for the director of The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi, he responded to the threats of legal action at a Cannes Film Festival press conference back in May, stating, “I mean, everybody talks about him suing a lot of people — they don’t talk about his success rate, though, you know?”
On Oct. 13, Trump posted on Truth Social that the film was a “fake and classless” film, hoping it would bomb at the box office. “It’s a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job, put out right before the 2024 Presidential Election, to try and hurt the Greatest Political Movement in the History of our Country, ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'”
In response, Gabriel, the film’s screenwriter, told THR, “It’s not surprising [that Trump lashed out]… You’ve seen the film, the first lesson that Roy Cohn teaches him is: attack, attack, attack. So Trump hasn’t seen the movie, but he’s clearly following the rules that are in the movie.”
Are you going to watch The Apprentice? Have you already seen it? I want to know your thoughts. Share them in the comments.
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