Annie Walton Doyle
Sebastian Stan received widespread praise for confronting a reporter who referred to his co-star as a ‘beast.’
Earlier this year, the Marvel star attended a Q&A session with his fellow cast members at the Berlin Film Festival.
Stan stars in A Different Man alongside Adam Pearson and Renate Reinsve.
The film is a drama-thriller centered on Edward (played by Stan), a man who, after undergoing facial reconstructive surgery, becomes obsessed with an actor portraying his pre-surgery self in a stage production.
This actor, Oswald (played by Pearson), rejects the idea of reconstructive treatment, prompting Edward’s fixation.
Pearson, who lives with neurofibromatosis, a condition causing benign tumors to grow on nerve tissue, brings authenticity to the role.
During the press event, Stan drew applause for tactfully challenging a journalist’s description of Edward as a ‘beast’ before his character’s transformative surgery.
The reporter asked: “What do you think happens after the transformation from this so-called beast, as they call him, to this perfect man?”
Stan responded thoughtfully, saying: “I am gonna call you out a bit on the choice of words there, because I think part of why the film is important is because we often don’t have maybe even the right vocabulary. I think it’s a little more complex than that, and obviously there’s language barriers and so on, but you know, ‘beast’ isn’t the word I think.”
He continued: “I think ultimately it’s just interesting to hear this point, because I feel to some extent that’s one of the things the film is saying, you know, is that we have these preconceived ideas. We’re not really educated on how to really understand this experience.”
Stan added: “One of the things I love about the movie is that it offers a way to look at it objectively. Hopefully, if you watch with an open mind, you may start questioning your initial instincts, and maybe those instincts aren’t always the right ones.”
Pearson also commented on the experience, saying: “This was the hook that we gave to Sebastian – You don’t know what it’s like to have a disfigurement, but you do know what it’s like to not have privacy and to have your life constantly invaded. You become public property.”
Fans praised Stan for defending Pearson, with one remarking: “So Sebastian was definitely right about checking that guy on his choice of words. Great job, Sebastian, way to defend and stick up for a fellow colleague and actor.”
Others commended his ‘polite and eloquent’ response.
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