Sebastian Stan corrects journalist who called character with facial disfigurement a ‘beast’

Actor was at a press conference in support of his new horror movie ‘A Different Man’

Sebastian Stan called out a journalist for using insensitive language when describing his new character during a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday (16 February).

The Marvel star, 41, was attending a Q&A panel in support of his new A24 horror movie, A Different Man, in which he plays Edward, an aspiring actor who undergoes a radical reconstructive procedure to drastically transform his disfigured appearance. Afterwards, he becomes fixated on a stage actor (Adam Pearson) set to portray him in a production based on his former life.

When asked by a journalist about his character’s “transformation from this so-called beast, as they call him, to this perfect man”, Stan stepped in to correct them.

“I have to call you out a little bit on the choice of words there, because I think part of why the film is important is because we often don’t have the right vocabulary,” the Captain America actor said, according to Variety.

“I think it’s a little bit more complex than that, and obviously there are language barriers, but you know, ‘beast’ isn’t the word. And I think, ultimately, it’s just interesting to hear this word because I think that’s one of the things the film is saying – we have these preconceived ideas and we’re not really educated on how to understand this experience in particular.

“That’s one of the things I love about the movie,” he added. “He’s offering you a way to look at it, and hopefully, if you can have the same objective point of view while you’re experiencing the film, maybe you can kind of pick apart the initial instincts that you have, and maybe those aren’t always the right ones.”

Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson in ‘A Different Man’ (A24)

Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) and British actor Adam Pearson, who has neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes tumour growth along the body’s nerves, also star in the movie.

Director Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month. It will also screen in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. It has not yet set a cinematic release date.

In July 2022, Stan stunned fans when he posted first-look images of himself in character, wearing heavy facial prosthetics.

The first act of the movie sees Stan in heavy makeup before he goes back to his typical appearance after the procedure.