The Film 'The Apprentice'

• 🎬 The film "The Apprentice" stars Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn.
• 🎭 Both actors delivered masterful and stellar performances, with Stan capturing Trump in a subtle yet chilling way and Strong portraying the infamous lawyer and power broker.

Understanding Roy Cohn

• ⚖️ Roy Cohn was a prominent New York lawyer and power broker, known for being Joe McCarthy's chief counsel and for sending the Rosenbergs to the electric chair in his early twenties.
• 🤝 He represented a wide range of figures, from Cardinal Spelman and George Steinbrenner to mob bosses and Aristotle Onassis, and was a lifelong Democrat.
• 🧠 Cohn is described as a controversial, infamous, and undeniably brilliant lawyer whose malign and outsized influence on Donald Trump is explored in the film.

Actor's Approach to Roles

• 🎭 Both Stan and Strong approached their roles with a sense of responsibility to serve the stories and characters, drawing from their experiences with other real-life based projects.
• 🌍 Stan was particularly excited by the involvement of European filmmaker Ali Abbasi, whose subversive and punk-rock filmmaking style offered a unique lens.
• ✍️ The combination of Abbasi's direction with Gabe Sherman's meticulously researched journalistic approach created an exciting dynamic, aiming for a "1 plus 1 equals 3" effect.

Trump's Reaction and Film Distribution

• 🚫 Donald Trump's legal team sent cease and desist letters attempting to prevent the film's release, a move described as "pretty predictable" and "out of Roy Cohn's playbook."
• ✊ Filmmakers have turned to grassroots solutions, including a Kickstarter campaign, to fund promotion and distribution after the film was blocked from US distribution.

Portraying Donald Trump

• 🎤 Sebastian Stan prepared for his role by treating it like learning an instrument, focusing on technical aspects and extensive research, while also studying what not to do from previous portrayals.
• 💡 He emphasized removing judgment and serving the story, finding the Rona Barrett interview particularly insightful for understanding Trump at that earlier stage.
• 🗣️ Stan noted that while seeds of influence exist, individuals are responsible for their actions after a certain age, a concept that contrasts with Trump's hallmark of not taking responsibility.

Jeremy Strong on Roy Cohn

• 🤝 Strong found Cohn to be a fascinating and terrifying figure whose shadow is still felt today, drawing parallels between Cohn and other powerful figures like the Murdochs.
• 🎭 He described himself as an actor who finds himself around these significant real-life people, highlighting the compelling nature of stories centered on real people and high stakes.
• 💔 Strong felt sympathy and pity for Cohn, particularly seeing how he was ultimately subsumed by Trump, but stressed that as an actor, his focus is on serving the character and story.

Themes and Impact

• 🧠 The film explores themes of denialism, defiance of reality, and the passing on of principles like "deny everything and never admit defeat."
• 🌍 Both actors view the film as an attempt to understand human nature and how society arrived at its current state, holding a mirror up to the country and our own complicity.
• 🖼️ A key scene involves Roy Cohn stating "America is his only client," and a moment at Trump's wedding where Cohn expresses love for Trump, highlighting the complex relationship at the film's core.
• 📢 The actors hope the film will become a cultural event, sparking conversations that could influence the upcoming election, which they consider the most important in modern history.
• 😟 Both express anxiety about the current climate of selective thinking and denial of reality, especially with readily available technology for research.