22 minutes with Sebastian Stan

[Music] [Applause] we're spending 22 minutes today with Sebastian Stan one of the stars of a fan tastic I never say that a fantastic movie i Tanja and for people who aren't familiar I told my kids about it and they're like well who's Tanya I'm like you don't know who Tonya Harding is like come on yeah Wow it is just it is riveting and it's getting great buzz - how did you wind up playing the role of the infamous Jeff Gillooly haha well I had seen the 34:30 price of gold kind of recently actually around September of last year but around the time that I received the script and and the meeting to Skype with Craig Gillespie who was the director at the time and so everything was pretty fresh in my mind but I was yeah III was kind of curious intrigued and sort of mystified by the whole thing and and and just overall I was already kind of obsessed with trying to find out what was telling the truth and what really happened and so that curiosity was there for me from the very beginning and then when I read the script it was so sensationalized in ways and then on top of that the fact that it was a real story really made it even more bizarre and crazy and it just seemed like a no-brainer to want to try and do it sure I remember talking about the story back and for the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics and it seemed unbelievable for people who don't know the story that this skaters husband Jeff Gillooly just like I just like saying yeah they hired somebody to kneecap Patania Harding's skating rival America's skating sweetheart Nancy Kerrigan and you know at the time it was it was very black-and-white the coverage of it it was like Tanya bad Nancy good yeah this movie really it tells you all about Tanya yeah well again it's just it's a it's you know this movie is gonna be I think interesting for people even if you don't know anything about the story or you know you do have some idea of what happened what you might have heard and and actually anybody that I actually end up talking to everyone has their own little point of view about it and it's very funny to me because it's nobody nobody really knows what happened but this at least is a screenplay based on the wildly contrasting interviews that Steven Rogers the screenwriter had with Tanya and with Jeff and the two of them just had a lot of different things to say about what happened and and at least in on Jeff side it's kind of I think the first time that you really hear you know his point of view from it as well and and again it's just a different take on maybe what you maybe don't know what happened you know right or what you think happened so it is based on those interviews because as I'm watching it I'm saying yeah I can't remember that wow I didn't know that yeah yeah I mean this is so so actually it's a new take on the story as well that we haven't really heard before now Jeff Gillooly you act you actually met him before I did I did yeah I went to Portland Oregon about a week or two before we started shooting I really wanted to go there I wanted to go to the you know the ice rink where she started skating and where they met I went to where they had the first date you know I just went to all these places that I I just wanted to be there and I hadn't really been in Portland I wanted to get the accent and of course I wanted to find him yeah but you think of what kind of guy is he well it's listen it's weird I mean it's like it's strange when you're spending time researching somebody and and it was really hard for me to actually find a lot of stuff on him I mean there's a couple things on YouTube but I was trying to just piece together you know a life for personality and and then you meet the person and so it's a little bit like you're in the twilight zone because you're you know you're looking at them and staring at them and they kind of think you're weird but look he he was just very I think taken aback as to why anybody wanted to make a movie out of the story it seemed to me that he was sort of hesitant to you know kind of want to revisit this story altogether but years later I can yeah and I was just saying to him I was like listen I know it's your life but like it's a really I just don't come across a screenplay like this I really just you know from an acting perspective like as an actor I I looked at that and I saw gold you know in the sense of the screenplay but I just primarily wanted to you know I wanted to see his physicality I just wanted to see what he looks like now I wanted to see you know try to get an idea of how he grew up or what you know what he was like I mean that's that's your job is when you're playing somebody that existed you're just trying to piece together a life and his different iterations of facial hair yeah yes and and yeah exactly I actually think I even asked him I was like where did like where did you think the mustache was gonna like where did that idea come from I was I was a Tom Selleck like what but he you know apparently I guess that's what though it was kind of popular in the 90s I guess yeah yeah so now a lot of this and a lot of the success of the movie I would think have to be based on the chemistry between you and Margo rose oh yeah yeah which is you play to people who are crazy in love with the emphasis on the crazy yeah well what was that like working with her and those and those really some really volatile scenes I mean I it's one of those things where sometimes as an actor you really you know you really hope you don't have to audition but I have to say I'm was so glad that I had to audition I had to do this chemistry test with her because it really informed me a lot and I think both of us in that on that day in the room about how we were gonna approach this relationship you know and how we would work together and it was dead apparent to me on that day that that we you know there was always I want to maybe this is the wrong word but there was always a light hardness heartedness that we both had to a approaching this because I we knew that this was very intense material to some extent and we you know we wanted to have a great sense of trust and there was a lot of generosity I think on her part and but but I always fell from the gecko that I just felt safe with her you know and that she was willing to go anywhere and you know and sometimes that took us into fits of laughter that we couldn't stop for for you know a long time throughout shooting and then other times you know we would kind of both sort of sit on one end and kind of not argue but like go well you know she would have known at this point well no actually she didn't know at this point and then Craig would have to come in and kind of go like okay guys look we got it tell a story I'm sure she did and I took it well you know I welcomed it with all my heart listen if Margot Robbie wants to hit me she can do it any time and how was it working with Allison Janney as as the mom which there's so much that that I didn't know about Tonya Harding yeah I didn't know that she had a mom like that well no you got a whole lot of stuff well but that's the you know that and that's what's heartbreaking at the same time is that I think one of the themes in this movie that's being explored is the fact that so often times we seek the love that we get in childhood or what we associate to be loved and you know sometimes you know that the line between love and trauma are is so so small and and in this case you could really understand from her point of view how embedded those two things were for her growing up and and yeah and and so the relationship that she had with her mother is very important obviously in the story because it shaped you know for better or worse who she was and how she approached her work love or hate and Allison you know is just like a force of nature who happens to have turned in performances that are unbelievable for decades at this point and it's like watching her for me it was more kind of like a master class in acting that's how I remember it and and really just trying not to crack up because she say she had some of the greatest lines and straight lines great lines just watching her on the ice smoking a little more she's a soft - describing the ages yeah great yeah it's crazy and she feels that being mean to her daughter is gonna get extract a better performance from her on the ice which is kind of messed up today it is messed up you know but that's something that no you always kind of it's interesting to think about isn't it like if you have a gun to your head you know are you gonna run faster than then if you're not you know like it's just that mentality I think that Tonya very much like dealt with which was that if she's always under pressure or she's always not feeling good about what she's doing that she actually performed better and you know that it's such a I wouldn't want that kind of mentality but but that's one of the things that is being explored in the movie is like what that what does that do to a person so they're these crazy violent scenes with with you and with Jeff and Tanya and then you use the word light-hearted and I don't think that's the wrong word because there are some lighter moments between the two of them like there's one scene in particular which really struck me where one of their first dates and he says of her skating like you're you're super you have a superhero power like you have our yes super power and she just well I you know look I I really it was very difficult for me not to judge that character like when I first read it particularly because of the way he was written in the script take away what you heard or what you don't hurt like in the script he was all these things that you end up seeing in this movie at this point you know and but I but I had to kind of like know for me to kind of you know do my job I had to sort of find something that I could kind of grab on to to find a way in I guess and and my only way in was that this was just somebody who seemed to me to be in awe of her and very much kind of probably did love her or they did have some love relationship as toxic as it was but perhaps was ill-equipped to really deal with those emotions and ultimately the fame that they both I think that all the people involved were ill-equipped to deal with the fame that they got as if you look back in the 90s most that most people that were famous for 15 minutes seemed to not be able to handle it yeah but but yeah like you said I think that was you know for us in the movie we needed to find that light heartedness and it's in terms of mixing the violent aspects of it with something that's a little bit more on the comedic side otherwise I just don't think it would be watchable yeah other words would be too much of a documentary I use the word superhero superpowers that's my cheap Segway to get into your other part of your movie career the Marvel movie so another Avenger movie is coming out next year it's coming out tomorrow I mean it's coming out next year tomorrow's the trailer for oh yeah yeah which is gonna be I saw it yesterday actually I was in Atlanta and I was you know it's kind of it's interesting when you're in the movie and then you're watching the movie and you forget you're in the movie you're just caught up in the spectacle of it but I don't think Marvel fans are they're not gonna forget that this is this is coming out this is a big thing is this is this the movie next year where they're just just a whole bunch yeah I mean it really is everyone from the gecko you're talking about packaging 10 moved 10 years worth of relationships and characters and histories into two and a half hour movie I mean the way that they did it I you know I haven't seen it but the way that they've done that is you know kind of I'm blown away by it and the guardians of the galaxy guardians are in a daring and everybody doctor strange isn't it I mean yeah I'm sure I'm leaving Palooza oh good it is like that yeah green and and you of course play Bucky Barnes the right the Winter Soldier is it true that you actually read for the part of Captain America I always I did you did oh yeah I see those stories apocryphal but them yeah that happens to be a true one yeah I did I did and uh yeah and it's actually funny because I when it happened it obviously didn't go my way but but um I ended up having a meeting with Kevin Feige afterwards and he started talking to me about Bucky Barnes instead and I think he was just sort of gauging my interest in it which you know from the start I he had because I think this is the only role I could have played really I mean I'm so biased now at this point you know I don't picture myself really having play in any other role but um he did say to me recently that when I walked out of a meeting he said well we didn't know whether you could really play Bucky Barnes but we knew that you could definitely play the Winter Soldier so that was I guess that's what kind of led to them hiring me there yeah so then you get I mean when you get a deal like that to play that character in that universe with all these different movies come out do you say to yourself like this is the greatest thing or or does it become a little bit trickier than to manage your career into and to have the time to do other movies and other projects like I Tanya well I think yeah I think it's both I really do I think it's a little bit of both I mean you know the thing with Marvel is that I never really knew I mean yes I was looking back now when I traced back the steps I go I look at 2010 when was the Captain America movie and I realized how blessed I was because it no doubt had an impact on me even being in this movie and talking to you now so but at the same time I never really knew that because they very much have even though they have had a long term plan it seems to me they very much operate movie by movie and so it's actually we never knew we were gonna make a Winter Soldier movie you know we never knew that my character was going to get this far I certainly didn't and so it's always been more of a humbling experience that way and and at the same time yeah I think now it's just such a blessing that I was granted this ability to kind of pop in and work on that character and then try to find something that's a little bit different and this is this I Tania maybe it was exactly that now if you google Sebastian Stan I suspect you probably don't do that but what I'm you know not unless I want a anxiety attack one of the things that gives you anxiety but a lot of articles come up Luke Skywalker you know Mark Mark Hamill so bad you know side-by-side pictures of you and a young Mark Hamill and that you would be the perfect choice to play Luke Skywalker in a young Luke as they're now having the young Han Solo well do you do you like that or do you hate that because sometimes I would think people be like I why do you say I look just like that person I do not look just like that person I'm very okay I really am very but you know my friend recently ruined it for me he goes yeah but like I feel like you would be like a middle-aged Luke Skywalker already and also and I was like that's right and then and then he was like and I've already done a young Luke Skywalker movie and that's true like I was looking at it going like we have young school like young Luke Skywalker with Mark Hamill in the originals but what they don't have is what happens after Return of the Jedi when I guess he would be middle-aged and then if they ever were sixteen thirty yeah that's yeah I'm just saying if they ever really wanted to potentially visit what happened to him after those movies then you know give me a call is there any but but but there's no serious talk about it right now is there it or is there look I mean everything begins in the imagination right and it's all like well that sounds like a yes oh you got to visualize the goals and that's what needs to happen JJ Abrams there's somebody been calling you about it nobody should know that you know I mean look Marvel and Disney are on the same lot so I I keep going to the Disney side and use their Starbucks in order to hopefully run into all right okay well we'll see how that works out we are you know in New York City radio station so I got to get the little local flavor yeah here so you're born in Romania right raised in Rockland yes I came to in Rockland County in New York in Congress in Nyack I came in 1995 and then to Rutgers Rutgers University and therefore Rutgers to Hollywood now how did you make the transition from more like 42nd in a way that was my first apartment was on 42nd in 8th across from Port Authority $800 a month okay yeah that was in 2005 I saw some interesting things happening it was amazing party no it was great I mean look I you know you I walked out and the movie theaters were right there I mean I I haven't left New York yet and actually I'm really happy about that because I used to always hear the number 9 people were always used to say it was 9 years they had to be in New York in order to consider yourself a real New Yorker New York City so I'm I've I've gotten past 9 so I guess I guess hopefully now in New York how did you make the transition though like what would you consider sort of your breakthrough role when you said okay you know I am I'm going to make a career of this this acting thing well it was kind of around 2005 I mean I was there was a movie there call the architect and I got that the summer that I that I moved into the city and that felt felt pretty good I mean it felt kind of like I was doing the right thing but I guess I always knew I wanted to do this to something and you know in some capacity because I never really felt like I was honestly good at anything else I mean it was the only thing that kind of really engaged my attention in such a strong way so you know I I guess I don't know I never really thought of how I also would have turned out and had this not happened too many acting credits to even get into in in our 22 minutes you have a new one coming up too with many more and many more JK's oh yeah yeah yes of course yes yes I that's right JK Simmons yeah and many more I was a it was a sweet little movie that we did about a year ago then I'm really still hoping will will come out at some point and in the meantime I Tania and this made its premiere at the Toronto Toronto Film you know that's the big deal right to get a slot like that to premiere a movie yeah I think so I think I'd been at Toronto Film Festival one other time and it wasn't it was a great experience but yeah we were happy listen we were happy about it because we shot this movie this year we shot it in January in the 3-1 days 31 days yeah and so the fact that now we're I'm here with you talking about it in the same year that we shot it it's just kind of wild it doesn't usually happen like that so so Toronto was great for us cuz it was you know it came right at the right time and then it got people you know got people talking about the movie a lot of us Oscar buzz does that put kind of a pressure on on on you at all or live up to expectations or something I don't really listen I don't have anything to compare it to I've never really been in a situation where I've certainly been you know I've been in films that were nominated and won things before but I was never involved to this extent in them before so I don't have a comparison I don't have anything to really kind of like judge abaya ticket you know as it comes but the work is done like we can't reshoot the movie you know we can't go back and change things I mean the movies finish now we're just happy it's out there and you know it's on everybody else to kind of decide how they feel on it well I can't wait to get home today and watch the last hour it really is a sad life I go to normally but I it is it's just riveting it's terrific thank you so much Sebastian since my Tanya the movie yeah go see it everybody

Channel: elena amini

Views: 115,624

Rating: 4.9854984 out of 5

Keywords: SebastianStan, ITonya, InfinityWar

Id: vw8K6Omry0k

Length: 22min 7sec (1327 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 29 2017