The Apprentice is a biopic based on President-elect Donald Trump and brings to life the life and career of the former real-estate businessman through the decades of the 1970s and '80s. Following the release of The Apprentice, the director of the film as well as Sebastian Stan, the actor who played the titular role, was at the center of controversy surrounding their back and forth with Donald Trump himself regarding the credibility of the film.
While Iranian filmmaker and director Ali Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman revealed to GamesRadar that they didn't have any plans to coincide the release and reception of the film with the ongoing election campaign, they now believe that the film might serve as an important document for making the electorate aware before they cast their votes.
Even Sebastian Stan boldly expressed himself on the same issue, referring to Donald Trump as a "paranoid" and "scared little man" who would seldom care about the American citizens at large.
On the other hand, Donald Trump didn't take too kindly to the reception of the film. As per USA Today, he denounced the film as a "disgusting hatchet job" and called it an elaborate misinformation campaign designed to derail what he believed was the greatest political movement to have ever surfaced in the country.
What did The Apprentice star Sebastian Stan say about Donald Trump?
Sebastian Stan is an actor of Romanian descent who immigrated to the States back in his childhood along with his mother. According to reports, he was drawn to the script of The Apprentice because it presented a manifestation of the age-old American dream. The role came to him after several other actors turned down the offer due to political consequences.
While recording an upcoming episode of The Hollywood Reporters Award Chatters podcast, Sebastian spoke about his opinions regarding the film in front of an audience at the Miami Film Festival GEMS event. Regarding the controversial content of the film, he remarked:
"What is really so controversial about this film? I mean, I think what’s the scariest part is our own level of denial of reality at this point. If you want to really know, it’s out there, it’s all been documented for the last 30, 40 years. Everything that’s in this film has been documented and it’s out there.”
He further added:
"There’s people that are going to say, ‘We don’t know what the truth is anymore.’ That’s the problem! He (Trump) has muddled it up so much… You can create your own truth at this point, believe what you want, and that’s what people are doing. But I think if you really care, you can still find it.”
Donald Trump slams The Apprentice
Donald Trump didn't take too kindly to the narrative representation of himself on The Apprentice. He took to his platform, Truth Social, to categorically denounce the film, claiming that it twisted and distorted facts and misrepresented characters to the extent that he believed the film was nothing more than a politically motivated attack. He stated:
"A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie written about me, called, The Apprentice (Do they even have the right to use that name without approval?), will hopefully 'bomb.' 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!'"
The Apprentice is available in theatres.