Sebastian Stan was nominated to two Golden Globes for his critically praised performances in the drama The Apprentice and the dark comedy A Different Man. This is what he said in his acceptance speech, after winning as Best Actor for A Different Man, where he plays an actor affected by neurofibromatosis.

“Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end now. We have to normalize it and continue to expose ourselves to it, and our children. Encourage acceptance. One way we can do that is by continuing to champion stories that are inclusive. This was not an easy movie to make, neither was The Apprentice, the other film that I was lucky to be a part of and I’m proud of. These are tough subject matters, but these films are real and necessary, we can’t be afraid and look away.”

He added backstage: “It so seldom ever happens to be nominated anyway, and both of these films really had a hard journey. Apprentice, no studio, no money, no marketing, no billboard on Sunset, wanting to be buried and censored. A Different Man as well, is a very unique film, that now is finally going to get some eyes on it, and that’s what matters.
The actor, who had played Bucky Barnes-Winter Soldier in Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) opposite Chris Evans, and the husband of figure skater Tonya Hardin in I, Tonya (2017) with Margot Robbie, explained why he chose these two roles in small independent movies.
“Probably it has a lot to do with getting older. You want to be part of something that’s meaningful, to be surrounded by people that are asking tough questions, that are fearless. In both of these cases, directors Ali Abbasi and Aaron Shimberg are very brave. They are asking us to go into uncomfortable places, and there is something to be learnt from that. Of course, I want to keep challenging myself, and hopefully other people care.”
On January 23, Sebastian Stan was nominated to the Academy Awards as Best Actor for The Apprentice, where he plays Donald Trump in the 1970s and 1980s, when he learns the three rules from his mentor Roy Cohn: always attack, never admit wrongdoing, always claim victory, even if defeated.
Sebastian Stan is an immigrant from Romania, named after classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach, who moved as a child with his pianist mother to New York State, where she remarried. He concluded his acceptance speech with these words, while holding the Globe trophy: “This is for my mom, who left Romania in search of a better life and gave me everything, and for my stepfather Tony who took on a single mom and a grown-up kid. Thank you for being a real man.”