NEW YORK – Sebastian Stan knows his latest movie is bound to strike a nerve. He likes it that way.
“I’m proud when I’m a part of something that speaks to a timely issue,” says “The Apprentice” star, who
is following up his Oscar-nominated role as a young Donald Trump with an equally provocative new drama.
Loosely inspired by a true story, “Fjord” (in select theaters Oct. 9, expanding nationwide Oct. 23) follows a devoutly Christian family led by stern Romanian patriarch Mihai (Stan) and his Norwegian wife, Lisbet (Renate Reinsve), who works in a nursing home.
When they relocate to Lisbet’s hometown, the conservative clan instantly raises eyebrows among their progressive new neighbors – specifically, when the children’s teachers discover bruises on their bodies and the kids confess there's occasional physical discipline at home. They are soon taken away by child protective services, sparking a prolonged legal battle.
“Fjord” grapples with cultural clashes and individual freedom, asking at what point it is our responsibility to police others’ values and behavior. The Oscar hopeful won Cannes Film Festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, in May. But it has also sparked debate among critics and social media users, some of whom believe that it props up right-wing ideology with the film's depiction of protesters rushing to Mihai and Lisbet's defense, claiming religious persecution.
“They’re not understanding the nuances,” says Stan, 44, on a recent visit to USA TODAY’s studio. “I find it almost laughable to label it a ‘MAGA film’ when it's essentially about an immigrant family going to a different country and being torn apart. We could change Norway for the United States, and Romania for Mexico, or any number of places where that’s happening.”
Despite “these knee-jerk reactions,” it’s a film “that has to be processed and downloaded,” Stan adds. “In America, it’s going right to the heart of this divisive issue that we’re currently having, and the reason people are writing it off or feel it’s a propaganda piece is because we’ve normalized finger-pointing. This judgmental, dismissive attitude that plays out online is quite dangerous and naïve – but it’s unfortunately predictable in today’s time.”
As a Romanian immigrant, 'Fjord' felt like 'a coming home' for Sebastian Stan
Born in Romania, Stan and his mother moved to Austria when he was 8 after the Romanian Revolution. They eventually settled in upstate New York when he was 12.
Although his family wasn’t particularly religious, “I still had exposure to emotionally guarded, stoic, Eastern European male figures,” he recalls. As an immigrant, he understood what it means to “feel different, have an accent, try to make new friends, and have that self-awareness that inevitably ends up carrying a slight degree of shame with it.”
After working in the U.S. for roughly two decades, “Fjord” felt like “a bit of a coming-home party for me,” Stan says. It’s written and directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, and it’s the actor’s first movie in which he gets to substantially speak his native language.
“I felt very embraced by the Romanian crew,” he recalls. “I hung out with them every night; we spoke Romanian every day. Because I left [the country] so early, I felt like I’d been playing catch-up for a very long time. I definitely feel like I’ve arrived back to some old place that I left.”
In making “Fjord,” Stan was very intrigued by the prospect of going to “morally ambiguous” places. While prepping for the project, he had extensive conversations with Mungiu and Reinsve about the characters’ respective childhoods. They also visited churches and spoke to parents who have been embroiled in similar legal cases.
“This movie deals a lot with history and tradition, and whether it still has value in today’s world. And if so, what still works and what doesn’t?” Stan says. “In terms of my own upbringing culturally, there was a sense of: Stick to your own lane, stay suspicious and stay guarded. Also, if you got in trouble, you really got in trouble – and maybe that did involve spanking or a slap here and there.
“I was a very accident-prone kid and I scared my mom,” he adds. “I could see she had the right intentions to protect me.”
Sebastian Stan says the movie is 'very relevant for me' as a new dad
Stan and his partner, actress Annabelle Wallis, welcomed their first child in July. As a result, “this idea of what we are passing onto our kids is very relevant for me at this time in my life,” he says. “It’s a movie about: How do you raise kids in today’s world? I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I learned that I’m inevitably passing down.”
The Golden Globe winner admittedly has “many” fears about raising a kid in 2026.
“All you have to do is just look at the news, and how we’re treating our planet and ourselves,” Stan says. “But on a personal level, you always have to look at what you have control over. Even though, as a parent, I have the best intentions for my kid, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am somehow free of fault or making a mistake. It’s very easy to impose your own perspective, and not see your child for who she or he or they may naturally exist to be.
“Suppression is a major issue,” he adds. “Any time something is suppressed or denied, it grows another head in some capacity.”
Since 2011, Stan has been in nearly a dozen Marvel projects as Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, and he will appear in an undisclosed role in Matt Reeves’ upcoming “The Batman: Part II.” But he has also stretched himself in audacious independent fare including “A Different Man,” “Fresh” and “I, Tonya.”
“I like Sebastian when he has to play something very different to what he does in the Marvel movies,” says Mungiu, praising the mix of menace and warmth that Stan brings to Mihai. “He is very versatile and capable of expressing a lot by doing very little.”
Stan fell in love with acting in high school, and “I never thought I was going to end up in this one role that I was going to be defined by,” he says. “I’m always indebted to Marvel because it opened these doors, but I feel like I’m getting to do now what I always wanted to do when I was younger. We’re all so overexposed now that it’s easy to get comfortable – and I worry about getting too comfortable.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sebastian Stan knows 'Fjord' is 'divisive.' He wants to talk about it.
