Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan has quickly become one of the most recognizable actors in all of Hollywood, having his talent, looks, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe to thank. Considering he really came on the scene during the early phases of the MCU, one could consider him relatively “new” to this whole thing. But since that’s about as big a franchise as we’ll ever see, it’s definitely a good starting point. Which is a massive understatement.

But Sebastian Stan’s career isn’t just wrapped up in playing a superhero, far from it. The actor is one of the most sought-after names right now because he’s a talented and versatile actor, willing to pour himself into a variety of parts. Heck, he even recreated one of the most famous sex tapes ever. So he’s got that going for him.

But it might have never happened. There was a time when the roles weren’t coming and the actor needed a financial save from a random residual check. Let’s look at Sebastian Stan, his career, where it’s been, and where it’s going.

SEBASTIAN STAN HAD ONLY TWO MONTHS OF FUNDS LEFT AFTER LEAVING GOSSIP GIRL

Though he wasn’t a star yet, Sebastian Stan would start gaining notoriety and attention with a few key television roles that began to highlight his talent. The first big one was on Gossip Girl where he played Carter Baizen. He would end up having a part in 11 episodes of the series over the first three seasons. He has a tumultuous relationship with Serena (Blake Lively) during his character arc, and had a mysterious air about him, something that would play for the actor in other roles he’d take. Interestingly enough, the way Sebastian Stan first heard about the role was from his friend Chace Crawford (now The Deep on The Boys). Stan thinks Crawford helped give him the inside track on the role from the beginning.

The next bigger break was on the NBC Kings. The high-concept show set itself in an alternate reality where a monarchy reigns and Ian McShane’s Silas Benjamin is the king of the land. The show was meant to play on the tensions within the royal family while they fight to remain in power. Sebastian Stan plays Jack, the Prince of Gilboa who masks his hard-partying ways with the fact that he’s secretly in the closet because of the embarrassment it would bring the family. His character plays off of Christopher Egan’s David Shepard in a story that was supposed to mirror that of King David. But it was canceled after only one season.

Sebastian Stan has even said that 2011 difficult year following his Gossip Girl and Kings run. He wasn’t closing roles. Though he had already been in the Marvel Universe, his business manager called saying he was nearly broke, and he had only one month left of funds before Stan needed a job. But fortunately, a residual check from Hot Tub Time Machine was going to carry him over until the next big break.

SEBASTIAN STAN WAS BORN IN ROMANIA IN 1982

Sebastian Stan was born in Romania in 1982 before moving to the United States when he was 12 years old. Sebastian Stan has said that his first role on screen, when he was 11 and living in Romania, was terrible and that he hated the whole process. In fact, he was out on acting until he turned 14 when he began to get into school plays mostly because one of his good friends from school was also taking part. 

He wouldn’t officially become a United Citizen until 2002 when he was enrolled at Rutgers University as part of their School of the Arts program. From his university training, Sebastian Stan said that he decided he would move to New York City and pursue acting on a full-time basis. From there it was a bit of a struggle, waiting tables and auditioning for parts that were few and far between. He landed roles in The Covenant and The Architect which helped to jump-start things.

HE JOINED THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE AS BUCKY BARNES AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

These early roles would lead to the biggest break really any actor or actress can get these days, a spot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While these days bigger and bigger names are being cast for Marvel roles, this wasn’t always the case and the studio was able to add some smaller names to parts in earlier movies. Sebastian Stan originally tried out to actually play Steve Rogers/ Captain America but obviously didn’t get that role.

Eventually, he was cast as James “Bucky” Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger. The best friend of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, Bucky is there through the former’s transformation into the Super Soldier who would become Captain America. Stan was excellent in the role, but would really shine in the follow-up movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 

Thought dead at the end of First Avenger, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes made a menacing return in the Cap sequel when it was revealed he was in fact, the Winter Soldier, an assassin who’d been working with HYDRA. Sebastian Stan spent much of this movie silent but carrying such a presence on the screen that he stole many a scene with just his overall violent affect.

By the end, we were able to parse out that he’d been effectively brainwashed into fighting against S.H.I.E.L.D. but not before doing considerable damage along the way. Funny enough, Stan has said that he wasn’t even sure he’d be around for the character for long after First Avenger, thinking that when he fell off the train he was dead in the MCU. He was definitely wrong about that one.

The transformation Sebastian Stan pulled as Bucky Barnes/ Winter Soldier combined with the on-screen chemistry with Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson/ Falcon was enough for Marvel to greenlight what amounted to a buddy cop comedy series with the two. That was The Falcon and the Winter Soldier which debuted on Disney+ in 2021. It picked up after the events of Avengers: End Game as the world was reeling from the loss of Captain American and looking for someone else to pick up the shield.

HE PLAYED REAL-LIFE ROLES IN I, TONYA AND PAM & TOMMY

It’s one thing to run around with a fake robotic arm fighting bad guys with a dude who carries an America shield and another guy who has mechanical wings. That’s all fun and games. But Sebastian Stan has shown he can play a number of different roles as well, some of which have garnered significant critical acclaim over the years. One of those was I, Tonya which he starred in opposite Margot Robbie.

Telling the crazy story of Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly in the lead-up to the 1994 Winter Olympics and the controversy around the attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan. The movie was universally critically acclaimed and earned Margot Robbie a Best Actress nomination at that year’s Academy Awards. Stan was praised as well for his performance as Gillooly.

And then, more recently, Sebastian Stan starred in the series Pam & Tommy for Hulu. This told the story of the sex tape that rocked Hollywood. Stan is Tommy Lee and Lily James plays Pamela Anderson. The series covers the two’s wild marriage and the fallout from the sex tape that leaked following their honeymoon.

For starters, it’s almost uncanny how much the two stars resemble the actual people in this movie with Stan looking so much like Tommy Lee that one has to do a double-take. The mix of comedy and quasi-tragedy in this series made it pretty excellent viewing with the two stars lighting up the screen. Sebastian Stan was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie category. 

SEBASTIAN STAN IS ON INSTAGRAM

Though he might not strike as a guy to have a big social media presence, Sebastian Stan actually has a massive Instagram following and stays active on the platform. He currently has more than 9.4 million Instagram followers with a feed that’s a mix of his performances, interviews, reflections on his time in Hollywood, and him wearing massive pink suits for some reason.

And in terms of his personal life, he’s reported to be dating actress and model Alejandra Onievaextremely. The two have been together for the last couple of years. Though for the most part, these two have avoided the limelight when it comes to public appearances together.

In all, Sebastian Stan has crafted one of the more successful Hollywood careers going right now with plenty more projects on the way. And it’s a good thing that Hot Tub Time Machine check came through so he could keep going with this whole thing.