Sebastian Stan transformed into the former US President Donald Trump in Ali Abbassi’s upcoming biographical drama The Apprentice. However, the actor did not use any fake prosthetics for the bloated face appearance. He instead consulted a nutritionist who recommended eating a weird combination of food.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Stan revealed Abbassi’s request for him to gain face fat to play Trump. “You’re older now, so your cheeks are more hollow, and it’s not Marvel,” the actor recalled Abbassi’s quip with a laugh. “So I called a nutritionist who I worked with before, and I said, ‘How do I quickly get bloating in my face.'”
Since Trump is a teetotaller, they couldn’t use alcohol to gain weight. After contemplating, the nutritionist got back to him with some unusual advice. He recommended the Pam and Tommy actor get ramen, empty a bunch of soy sauce sachets over it, and eat it as often as he could. “You’re going to get the salt in the face,” he recalled his nutritionist saying.
Stan revealed that finalizing his physical makeover was a huge task and that his debate with Abbassi continued right up to the film’s production. They knew that the Captain America actor did not resemble the former president from some angles but refused to lean excessively on prosthetics.
“I was always trying to steer to less prosthetics because I didn’t want to go with a complete likeness. I wanted to go for the essence,” Stan added. Fortunately, the director was on board with the “less is more” approach but it wasn’t the case since the beginning.
At first, Abbassi rejected the idea of using fewer prosthetics and even considered casting someone else due to his short-lived obsession over the character’s resemblance to Trump in real life. “I didn’t want this to look like all these historical dramas where you have to suspend your disbelief,” he explained.
So how did he come around to the idea? Abbassi realized that those were not the skills needed because of the biopic’s unique situation. “Donald Trump is he’s almost like a walking, living icon,” he said. “So if you do a little bit more of that imitation or get too close, then you are in mockery or parody, like Saturday Night Live,” the director explained. Therefore a natural makeover felt most suitable.
The Apprentice will be released in theaters on October 17.
